DC Potter
by shadowmaster3324
Summary: He was always told that there was no such thing as magic in the world, but he wasn't with THEM anymore, there is magic in the world. New family, friends and adventures await him. If he lives long enough to learn how to survive. What are the chances that a young boy gets everything he ever wanted and more? A new family, that actually love him. Finds magic. Gets to live his life. AU.
1. Prologue

"SHAZAM" he proclaimed, the mystical lightning struck him in the chest, returning Captain Marvel into his true form of Billy Batson.

As his vision clears and the dust from his sudden appearance fades away the preteen hero spot Aqualad being attacked by Klarion.

"It's the-"

[ _Don't shout Billy_ ] Miss Martian told him as she covered his mouth. [ _I've linked you, telepathically, to the others._ ]

Billy grins [ _That's so cool_ ]

Then realizing that it wasn't the time Billy's grin vanished [ _I mean, It's the gem! At the center of the pentagram. Destroy it and we win!_ ]

[ _That's all I needed to hear_ ] Came Zatanna's voice over the telepathic link, as a large rock fades away to reveal the Helmet of Dr Fate.

Zatanna lifts the helmet from the ground, intent on wearing the relic and allowing Nabu, the spirit of the Lord of Order, to possess her body.

"Zatanna!" Aqualad cries out, seeing the helmet in her hands.

"Stop!" Kid Flash cries.

Disregarding their cries Zatanna lifts the helmet and lifts it over her head as she went to place the helmet on her head a wave of powerful tension filled the air, causing her to still from her actions, the Helmet still held tightly in her hands above her head, she was unable to move it any lower over her head.

All the hero's and Klarion the witch boy could feel the power rolling throughout the area, none moved.

A powerful deep voice echoed through the air around the heroes, backed by the sound of an acoustic guitar.

Everyone's eyes looked towards where the song was coming from.

Approaching from behind Zatanna, who was still frozen in place with the helmet of Dr Fate over her head, was a single man wearing a black suit with hints of a red dress shirt underneath, a top hat lined with small white skulls and a mix of black and purple feathers decorating it, he was also holding a black cane with a silver skull at the top.

 _{Start playing: Gus Black – Don't Fear the Reaper}_

 _All our times have come_  
 _Here but now they're gone_  
 _Seasons don't fear the reaper_  
 _Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain_  
 _We can be like they are_

 _Come on baby... Don't fear the Reaper_  
 _Baby take my hand... Don't fear the Reaper_  
 _We'll be able to fly... Don't fear the Reaper_  
 _Baby I'm your man..._

 _Valentine is done_  
 _Here but now they're gone_  
 _Romeo and Juliet_  
 _Are together in eternity..._  
 _Romeo and Juliet_

[ _Not this guy!_ ] Robin's voice came over the mental link.

Robin's tone over the link told the team that he really did not like who he was seeing approach, clearly having a history with the gentleman that they were seeing.

"You who this is?" Aqualad asked, choosing not to use the mental link.

"Yeah I know who this guy is." Robin groaned. "What are you doing here Voodoo?"

The only part of the man's face that was visible was the bottom of his nose and his jaw, which the team could see was locked in a snarl.

"Mind the tone, otherwise I'll lock you in another cage, Tweety Bird." The man spoke in a clear voice.

"British?" M'gann stated more than questioned, clearly surprised as they were in America and had never come across anyone with a foreign accent so professed.

The man, Identified as 'Voodoo' turned and looked at M'gann, his sneer changed to a small smile.

"Indeed." He raised a gloved hand, the glove was black as the rest of the suit but there were white bones on the exterior of the glove, a part of the design and not actual bones. He removed his hat and touched it to his chest, bowing slightly forward, just as a cultured British man would from an old movie.

His Raven black hair obscured his eyes until he looked up.

Artemis and M'gann's breathing both hitched slightly when they saw dazzling emerald green eyes looking back at them all.

"Allow me to introduce myself." He stated as he placed his hat back on his head. "You can call me, for lack of imagination at the time, The Shadow Man, or Voodoo as the pet canary over there likes to call me. Still saw over the time I locked you in a cage Tweety?"

"Putty Twat." Robin sneered.

"Oh, poor baby." Klarion interjected, clearly annoyed with being ignored. "If you don't mind we were in the middle of something."

Voodoo's eyes locked onto Klarion's, the Witch boy flinched when their eyes locked the anger and deep power that he could see within the human was off-putting to say the least.

"It would do you wise to let me finish, Witch Boy." Voodoo warned before looking at M'gann once more. "I, as you may have guessed am a magic user, of sorts. Specifically I use Voodoo, through the power given to me through contract with the Loa, the Deities of Voodoo, you could call them.

"My personal introduction was with Baron Samedi, The Loa of Death and Fertility."

This information was lost on all but two people who recognized who they were currently dealing with. A god of Death, in any pantheon or religion was a dangerous person to be around, especially when they aren't on their side or on a side of their own. Zatanna gulped and Klarion tensed, realising the clear danger that he was in.

"What's a Bokor doing here?" Klarion asked, his tone not changing from the one he used when he was taunting the hero's before, though there was a small amount of fear that was visible.

"Personally, I came to ask a favour. Nothing too hard or difficult." He replied casually.

"Sorry, but that's a big no-no. Big plans and all that, ya know." Klarion replied "I can't exactly recall all the details, but I do know that it's supposed to be something good, I know that much for sure."

"You're intruding on a very important day for me and my family." He stated calmly.

"What's so important about today?" Klarion mused. "There's nothing special about today in any magical culture that I know of and I know all of them."

Voodoo's eyes narrowed. "It's my mother's anniversary and I was cooking dinner, which is now ruined because of your little magic show."

Klarion blinked, more out of surprise and shock that something so mundane had drawn a Voodoo sorcerer to interrupt his fun.

Robin groaned.

"What?" Kid Flash asked Robin.

"Today's Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's anniversary." He said, as if it explained it all.

"And how is that important?" Superboy asked, finally getting the Witch boy's familiar off him and joining the team.

"Voodoo was raised by Quinn and Ivy. They're his Mothers." Robin answered.

"Dude, talk about Awesome!" Kid Flash grinned "They're Hot!"

Artemis smacked the junior speedster over the back of the head. "If he's here because of that it means that he's pissed, and someone that scares Witch boy over there by the mention of who he works for-"

"With." Voodoo cut in. "My dear Huntress, I do not work for Baron Samedi, we work with him, ensuring that the souls of the dead go where they belong, though I do believe that I should continue with dealing with the Lord of Chaos present."

Voodoo's eyes locked onto Zatanna.

"Chato could you please bring me the helmet?" Voodoo asked, confusing everyone present.

"Sure homes." Came a male Latino voice from somewhere around Zatanna.

Before everyone's eyes a small platform of flame appeared behind Zatanna, it quickly became a pillar for a few moments before fading away, revealing a Bald Latino man wearing orange prison issue pants and sandals, he wasn't wearing a shirt allowing everyone to see that his upper body, back, shoulders, neck, arms and face were all covered in tattoos.

Chato was standing behind Zatanna, his hand was holding the rim of the Helmet preventing her from placing it on her head.

"El Diablo?" Robin gaped.

Chato looked at Robin "Ain't got nothing to worry about from me. I'm cool, homie."

He looked at Zatanna and shook his head.

"You don't want this power, if it's not your power then you ain't changing nothin'" he told her, then he looked at the shadow by her feet "Liz, you can let 'er go now."

Those that were near Chato could briefly see a shadowy figure slide across the ground towards Voodoo and meld itself to his own shadow.

"Thanks." Voodoo nodded to his friend.

"Hey man, none o' that. You helped me, tha's why I'm helping you, it's only fair homes." He said as he tugged the helmet from Zatanna's hand.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, Chato stepped back quickly and held a flaming palm up to prevent her from approaching.

"You don't want this." He told her "You have your own power, use it."

Voodoo walked forward and took off his hat.

"Sorry Nabu, I'll find you someone that you can take over, when I have some time." He told the helmet before dropping it into his hat before placing it back on his head.

"What'd you do with it?" Kid flash asked.

Voodoo smiled and replied "I've put it in a safe place."

"How's your hat a 'Safe Place' for the Helmet belonging to a Lord of Order?" Kid flash asked.

"Magic."

Kid flash rolled his eyes as the remark.

"Now what do we do with you?" Voodoo asked rhetorically as he looked at Klarion.

"You want my help?" Chato asked.

Voodoo shook his head "You've done enough Chato, get some rest."

Chato fell into his own shadow before re-joining Voodoo's own.

"Where'd he go?" Kid Flash asked again, clearly annoyed that things that he didn't understand were happening.

"Returned to the shadows, obviously." Voodoo replied, as if it were a normal thing.

Though to him it was, since he had people coming and going from his shadow at different times and doing different things.

"I think I'll keep things simple today." Voodoo stated as he looked at the crossroads.

He lifted up his hand, the one not holding the Cane, and splayed his fingers out. Tendrils of darkness shot forward and gripped the young heroes, a slight pull saw them all being pulled away and placed behind Voodoo, so they were out of the Battle.

"I would prefer it if you'd all sit back." He said, looking slightly behind himself so the heroes could see his eye, even though he couldn't see them. "I've been wanting to test my limits for a while now and I think it's a good time to do so."

"He's powerful, will you need assistance?" Aqualad asked Voodoo.

He smiled in reply "Don't worry Water-boy, I've got this covered."

"My name is Aqualad." He spoke in monotone, but it didn't appear that Voodoo heard him.

Voodoo placed his hands inches apart and formed a ball of fire.

"Let's see what this does."

Without wasting a moment voodoo launched the flaming orb at the mystic barrier that was protecting Klarion. It was impressive because as the ball of flame impacted the shield it didn't dissipate, the ball of fire spread out and encompassed the dome. The teens watched as the ball of fire spread out over the shield and seemed to grow in power, the flames started getting hotter and hotter, licks of white flames mixed within the already powerful dome of fire.

"He hehehe." Came a creepy, nasally laugh from within the flames."Looks like someone finally knows how to play the game."

Zatanna developed a slight twitch at the clear insult. Voodoo on the other hand, didn't visibly react, but his cane dropped into the shadows at his feet as his coat and hat blew away as black dust, leaving him standing there in black pants and a red dress shirt, which had the sleeves rolled up so they were above his elbows.

"Miss Martian!" Robin exclaimed from behind Voodoo.

The Voodoo practitioner looked behind him to see that the green Martian was struggling to stand, or remain conscious.

"She cannot stand the flames." Aqualad stated.

Voodoo snapped his fingers, instantly the blazing inferno vanished as if it had never been there at all.

"My apologies." He shrugged.

Looking back at the witch boy Voodoo raised an eyebrow.

Klarion stood, panting within the vermilion dome, with the pentagram still intact. It was clear that he was unaffected by the heat, but the force that the attack generated was enough that there were clear cracks throughout the shield. Voodoo realised that the bottom of the shield was clearly hazier than the rest of the shield, though it wasn't as high as he'd have liked, it was still more than he had hoped for.

'Hmmm…' Voodoo thought to himself. 'I'm gonna need to look into where Chato's powers come from, that was clearly more than regular flames'

Voodoo looked at Klarion's face, hoping to see that there was some surprise on his face. But he could only see that Klarion was still standing within the pentagram with his mouse like features. It was pretty annoying to say the least, since it kept making Voodoo think about some of the curses that he'd been subjected to by the Baron when he was learning Voodoo.

"Well, how about that." Klarion grinned, snapping his fingers to summon his familiar to him. "A magician with _actual_ magic tricks."

Voodoo's fists cracked as he clenched his fists, the sound strangely enough echoed through the crossroads.

"Ooooh." Robin grinned, causing the others to look at him strangely. "Shouldn't have said that, last time someone did that they forgot their own name for a month."

Several members of the hero team looked at Robin, the others all looked at where Voodoo stood a strange energy flowing from him. Klarion mentally froze at the look of pure loathing that he was on the receiving end of. Voodoo's eyes were locked onto Klarion's own, the emerald orbs glowing with an unreal power, Voodoo's skin started to darken, turning to black to match the gloves that he was wearing, the greatest difference that was clear to see was the skin on his face changed to black, leaving the only white portion depicted a skull.

"You may be a Lord of Chaos mon." Voodoo's voice deepened and changed, he could feel Baron Samedi's power within himself. "But da Voodoo of da Loa, has da powah to tip da scale."

 _Leve non, leve, Baron Samedi. Byenveni m 'nansimetyèr nan Fanmi an Guédé, poumwen, GuédéBokor a, yo te vin lakayou._  
[Arise, arise, Baron Samedi. Welcome me to the graveyard of the Guédé Family, for I, the GuédéBokor, have come home]

As Voodoo chanted a dark wind swirled around him, and an oppressive force seemed to weigh down on everyone in the area and the earth started to shake, Voodoo repeated the chant several times. Each time that he repeated the chant the power in the air grew greater and greater after the fifth time that he repeated the chant the earth suddenly turned to dark brown soil, so much so that it seemed to turn black.

"What's happening?"

"There's something coming."

"What's with this energy?"

It seemed that the very air was turning poisonous as the clouds swirled overhead, thunder rumbled in the distance as lightning danced through the black clouds above. There was a sudden low-levelled earthquake when several headstones burst through the ground at different angles, there were several different shapes and sizes. Some were traditional cross shaped, others were plaques on mounds of dirt, there were some that seemed more like pillars than they did anything else. Unseen by anyone but Klarion, though he was looking around in shock and fright than anything else, Voodoo raised a curious eyebrow when he saw a mausoleum appear on either side of the new graveyard.

"What is this?" Klarion shrieked.

Voodoo held out his hand and everyone watched as an eerie purple light started glowing from his palm, they watched transfixed as the light grew stronger, though not brighter, as the source came closer from the darkness, everyone watched as a staff slowly emerged from the darkness. The Purple staff could have been confused with the darkness of a moonless night, the only thing that upset the colour was the purple light that it gave off.

This was not the only thing that appeared.

On Voodoo's right hip appeared a dagger contained within a sheath, it too, glowed with a soft purple light. On his left hip appeared a ring of bone with a leather strip for a handle, there was a small bird skull sitting at the top of the ring with two white feathers on either side of it, but that was not what drew the eyes of those watching. It was the demonic red hand with long black nails and a sky blue orb below the severed wrist that drew the eyes.

"Holy crap!" Kid flash exclaimed.

"What in the world?!" M'gann asked.

Superboy and Robin looked as if they were attempting to keep their lunch down, so too was Artemis. Aqualad and Zatanna were just staring, both having been trained in various mystical arts could feel the magic that the three items were containing. They both took a reflexive step away from the being that they were near.

"H-H-How do you have those?" Klarion screeched. "Those items were removed from this world centuries ago, I was even the one who took the Wilken's reach from this dimension eons ago."

A deep chuckle filled the air as voodoo reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick cigar that he placed betwixt his lips.

"Do ya t'ink a boy like you, could hold da powah of a relic such as dis, wit'out one a da Loa knowing?" Voodoo questioned "We 'new datdere were fools lookin' for de' items of 'he Umbaru, da Loa was smart 'nough to know datdey needed protectin'"

Robin carefully moved near Zatanna.

"That's not his normal voice." He stated, the question clear to the homo magi.

"He's sharing the body with Baron Samedi, his body is acting as the Baron's vessel, or horse as it's been referred to in some texts." Zatanna explained "This could be good or bad."

"How?" Aqualad asked, being close enough that he was able to hear the conversation.

"Well, either the Baron is sharing control with Voodoo, The baron is letting Voodoo use his power or the Baron is completely in control over him." Zatanna explained.

"I still don't get it." Robin admitted.

"Well if Baron Samedi is sharing control with Voodoo then it means that their focuses align and we're not going to be killed right now. If the Baron is letting Voodoo use his power and he's not able to contain it then he could explode and we wouldn't survive."

"And if the Baron is in complete control?" Aqualad asked, unsure if even he wanted to know the answer.

"Then I hope that the worlds are united once more because I don't know anything about Voodoo rituals to even begin to form a plan on how to deal with something of untold power like a Loa, especially one that's also the head of the Ghede family, they embody the power of death and fertility."

The realisation of who they were dealing with became more real to the two of them.

"Then we best hope that the Baron is our ally in this fight." Aqualad commented.

"Definitely whelmed now." Robin stated.

Suddenly the shaking of the earth stopped and multiple mounds of dirt started rising before suddenly bursting through the stiff dirt.

"Welcom' Klarion Davitch boy." Voodoo greeted "To da Baron's Graveyard."

Klarion looked around in fright, as a lord of Chaos he'd been around for countless decades and centuries. He'd heard about the various pantheons of Gods that the mortals believed in, he had seen the rise and fall of countless pantheons throughout the universe, seen powerful civilisations fall away to time, greed, war and famine, but he'd never, personally, been a part of something as foreboding as what was happening.

[ _Was he this powerful when you faced him in the past Robin?_ ] Artemis's voice came over the mental link, reminding them that it was still active.

[ _No. Or at least, he never showed that he was_.] Robin replied using the link [ _If he has this much power at his disposal then he could easily have wiped out Gotham, or worse_.]

[ _Are there such things as Magical power-ups Zatanna?_ ] Artemis asked, having a more open-minded approach towards magic, and those that practised it.

[ _There are, but I doubt that he's used any of them._ ]

[ _What makes you say that?_ ] Kid flash asked.

[ _Let's just say that the things needed for those kind of rituals require a lot of dark magic and the need to commit acts that make murder look tame._ ] She replied tensely.

[ _Woah, you could have just said that they were bad and left it at that Z._ ] Kid Flash said [ _It's not like we wouldn't have taken your word for it, ya know._ ]

[ _Well…you asked._ ] She replied.

Voodoo raised his staff into the air before slamming it roughly into the soil at his feet and chanting once more.

"Mwenrele move lespriyonanpati a."  
["I call forth the spirits of the departed"]

The sounds canine howls rang throughout the area, causing chills to run up the spines of the young teenage heroes. Suddenly small mounds of dirt exploded around Klarion, once the air cleared once more the teen hero's all drew in a sharp breath, there rising from the small grave were disfigured canines. Their skin was a strange grey, with a sickly green tint to their skin, the skull had no skin but their craniums were bared to the elements, unnaturally free of skin, dirt and flesh.

"Hee hee hee" Klarion's naisally laugh echoed through the area. "Finally, looks like you finally decided to show some real power."

Klarion held his palms close together, everyone watched as an orb of red magic appeared, crackling with power.

"Let's see how your little puppies deal with this." He sneered as he launched the orb.

Voodoo lazily gestured at two of the resurrected dogs. Two dogs followed Voodoo's command without another prompt; they immediately charged towards the attack and threw themselves at the magic. As they impacted the magic the orb exploded and divided itself into a large amount of smaller orbs that rained down over the area.

Voodoo swiftly moved from where he was standing, narrowly avoiding the several orbs that were aiming for the area that he was standing.

"Looks like you've got some skill yourself." Voodoo retorted.

He tightened the grip on his staff, causing the purple light at the top of his staff to glow brighter, with a strong thrust a beam of energy burst from the tip of the staff and impacted the hazy shield surrounding the pentagram.

"There's nothing that you can do, Hee hee hee." Klarion giggled, to which voodoo raised an eyebrow, but didn't bother to reply.

The sound of glass cracking caused Klarion to stop laughing, out of sheer surprise.

"Wha-" Klarion was caught off guard when the shield that he was defended by now sported a large cracks that seemed to continue spreading out from where the violet light was still bombarding the shield. As the cracks seem to spread out over the entirety of the shield the clarity of the shield itself started to suffer because of it.

Then just as it had suddenly appeared the violet magical beam stopped.

Klarion's shoulders sagged in clear relief from the strain that Voodoo's attack was wrecking on the shield.

"Hee hee. Couldn't keep it up?" Klarion teased.

Robin, kid Flash and Artemis' eyes all widened at the comment.

[ _I would recommend being ready to fight him once again._ ] Voodoo commented over the mental link that he'd tapped into. [ _I will bring down his shield and distract him, one of you will have to get the stone, Magic-girl-_ ]

[ _It's Zatanna!_ ] She snapped.

Voodoo continued as if he'd not been interrupted [ _I hope that you know how to put the two worlds together, otherwise I'm just going to shatter the stupid thing._ ]

Voodoo cut himself off from the mental link so that he could focus his entire attention on Klarion.

"Clearly you need to keep an eye on your surroundings, witchy." Voodoo replied waving his free hand to his general area, to which Klarion looked around to see that all the resurrected dogs were at the edge of the shield and were ready to attack him.

"How can you have so much power?" He screamed.

"I do not fight for myself, unlike you. I fight for those that mean the world to me, I fight for those that I love, and they are who give me my strength." He replied, he noted that several of the young hero's were now hidden throughout the tree-line and were ready for any opening that he gave them.

Voodoo narrowed his eyes whilst looking directly at Klarion.

"And there's nothing that you, or _The Light_ ," He could see Klarion's reaction to the name "Can do to stop me."

Without another word Voodoo thrust his staff forward once more, though instead of the beam of violet energy he blasted a single powerful bullet of violet, clearly magical, flames that slammed into and spread over the shied. Klarion threw his hands up to defend himself and his familiar, Teekl, the small house cat that could become a sabre-tooth tiger.

Without needing an instruction the resurrected hounds rushed Klarion.

He snatched up Teekl, who let out a series of howls to ensure that his disapproval was heard by Klarion, and leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the closest hound that was aiming for his familiar.

"I know, I know." He snarled. "I let him get to me and I shouldn't have let him."

Teekl hissed as Klarion spelled a boulder to reverse directions, back to where it came from.

While doing that Superboy leapt through the air, making use of the distraction to punch the lord of Chaos in the face, sending him crashing into the trees.

"Fetch!" Voodoo commanded and the hounds obeyed.

"Zatanna!" Kid flash called out as he snatched the yellow crystal from the pentagram and tossed it to the floating magician.

"Got it!" She called out. "Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!"

Voodoo could feel the dimensional shudder as the two different worlds, separated by age, moulded together. He could feel the power that the spell had behind it. Right away he could tell that there was several things that they had missed about the spell being cast, the power requirements alone would require more than just a lord of chaos, that much was easy to tell.

Voodoo raised his hand into the air and clenched his fist, drawing in the power that he had used to summon the graveyard. As the world started to blur back together Voodoo's fist slowly opened, as if pried open by some unknown force, the grave's started to shake and shudder. The young hero's all watched.

"What's happening?" Kid flash asked, seeing that the justice league wasn't there with them.

"Something is keeping the worlds apart." Zatanna informed the group.

"Voodoo, what are you doing?" Robin shouted.

Voodoo attempted to reply but the focus that he needed to keep in order to prevent the souls contained within the graveyard, those belonging to the recently departed whose bodies had yet to decompose, from coming back to life as malefic spirits, was too great and ended up with him falling to his knees.

"Voodoo!" several of the group exclaimed as they rushed to assist.

"Stop!" Zatanna cried "He's attempting to prevent a backlash, don't get close to him, you could be caught in the rebound."

This forced them to stop short.

Suddenly a deep chill spread through the clearing as the shadows lengthened. They all watched as Voodoo's shadow spread out along the ground and joined the other shadows that were covering the gravestones, Zatanna was amazed at the showing of magical might. She knew that this was something that she would never be able to do herself, especially if what he'd said was right, owing his power to the Loa that he served, though he claimed to work alongside, she knew that there was no real way that he would be on the same level as an intermediary to the 'creator' which the Loa were known to be.

Slowly, but steadily, they watched as the shadows covered the graves and several of the hounds, only leaving enough to keep Klarion where he was, separated from his familiar Teekl.

"Restrain him." Voodoo bit out through gritted teeth, attempting to keep his powers in check, though even he knew that Klarion would take the chance to get away should he leave too few hounds alive and the more that he left alive the more strain that it would put on him, that would prove damaging should he be too weak.

"dnib noiralk ni cigam sniahc" Zatanna chanted.

Suddenly golden chains burst from the ground and wrapped around Klarion.

Voodoo let out a roar, drawing everyone's attention once more.

Suddenly the shadows around Voodoo started lifting off the ground, it was eerie, though the shadows were thin like paper the way that they lifted off the ground made them look like thin fabric, the shadows lifted and wrapped together in front of him.

"Is everyone else seeing this?"Robin asked, hoping that he was just imagining things.

"Yep." Kid flash confirmed.

"I certainly hope so." Artemis said.

"Seeing, still working on believing." Aqualad stated.

"This is incredible." Miss Martian voiced.

Superboy had no comment and Zatanna was just stunned at the display of powerful magics.

As if it was building tension the shadows condensed into a small orb and hovered in the air before Voodoo, it just stayed there, ominously, as if it had a mind of its own. Then it lowered itself into the lengthened shadow, just as the tip of the orb vanished into the shadow the entirety of the shadow, Voodoo's as well as the shadows from the trees, surged with power and rapidly consumed the graveyard, within moments there was nothing left of the grave's and headstones that were there mere moments before.

Suddenly a blinding light appeared, forcing everyone to cover their eyes.

When they opened them they saw that the Justice league was all present and had restrained the other sorcerers that were involved with the dimension separation.

"Ah, so that's how they were able to split things up." Voodoo commented weakly as he used his staff as a crutch.

"You used too much power didn't you." Someone commented from behind him.

Without looking behind him, as he already knew who it was, Voodoo scoffed.

"What can I say, I did make sure to give you most of the restraint." He replied "and it looks like I was right to do so too."

"If you say so."

Both the Justice League and the Young hero's were staring at Voodoo in shock.

"Ummm..." Captain Marvel, who had changed from billy Batson at sometime, cut in. "How is there two of you?"

Voodoo chuckled "There isn't, at least not in the way your thinking. The whole world was affected by the dimensional separation, and someone like me, who uses such great power and has a connection to the dead, I registered as both over 18 and under 18. Because of that I was split into two, the older portion of my power was sent into the world with the other League members, and the younger version remained with the Sidekicks."

The older version of Voodoo remained silent but placed a hand on his counterparts shoulder, as soon as they were connected the older broke down into dust and melded with Voodoo's shadow.

Voodoo gasped, as if he was just saved from drowning, or a great pressure had just been taken off his chest.

He shook his head violently.

"That's a rush."

Once he had his breath back he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, completely ignoring the looks that he was receiving from the league and the young sidekicks.

"Hey, yeah it's me... Yeah got everything handled... Yes I know... I'm happy for... I see... well what did you tell them?... Uh huh... uh huh... why didn't you... Screw them... I'm sorry... *sigh* for using foul language..."

Several of the hero's present chuckled as they listened to the conversation, it was clear that Voodoo, someone who had just defied all logic and split himself between dimensions was now being scolded for swearing by his mother, whether it was Ivy or Quinn they didn't know, it was just funny.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll make sure to call every so while." Voodoo said as he finished his call. "Sorry about that, Mum wasn't happy about leaving when the split happened. Apparently they didn't realize when the dimensions shifted and to them it seemed like I'd just walked out on them."

Several people just stared at him while Batman, Superman and several of the League members were dealing with those that they had captured.

"Well they just don't make immortal evil sorcerers like they used too." Klarion commented, drawing their attention. Somehow he'd managed to free himself from the chains binding him.

"Oh well, fun while it lasted. Teekl." He called out, and clapped his hands

As soon as the feline was in his arms Klarion snapped his fingers and everyone watched, unable to do anything as he jumped through the portal.

"See you later Armadillos, unless I see you first."

The sound of his nasally laugh was all that remained for several seconds.

"Aren't you going to stop him?" Kid flash exclaimed, directing this at Zatana and Zatarra.

"To what end?" Zatara stated wearily "He is a lord of Chaos; there is nothing we can do to stop him. Not even Doctor Fate would be able to contain him; neither could your young friend over there."

Before anyone could argue with what she said Voodoo spoke.

"She's right, you know." He told them. "Klarion is powerful and the best that anyone here could do, even if both heroes and villains worked together, would only force him to remain in one place for a short while. The strongest spell that I can do would only hold him for, maybe an hour, at most."

Zatana shrugged when Kid Flash looked at her, hoping that she would say something that would completely change everything, hoping for some big reveal that would mean that a powerful villain hadn't just gotten away for nothing.

"So, when do I get to pick my room, Bats?" Voodoo asked the dark knight.

All eyes turned to look at Batman.

"Don't tell me that we have to put up with him now too." Robin groaned, almost pleadingly at Batman.

The Dark knight just looked at Robin before turning his attention to Voodoo.

"I thought I told you that I would speak with the team first." Batman replied to Voodoo.

He snorted "Well, I thought that after defeating a Lord of Chaos, foiling The Lights plan for the evening, and showing off some powerful magic that put both Klarion and our resident stage magician to pasture, warranted a little directness." Voodoo grinned from his spot on the ground.

"Egats naicigam ym saa" Zatana grumbled under her breath, clearly thinking that no one would call her out on it.

"Ti si rehtar enif eno, fi I od yas os" Voodoo quipped easily.

Making Zatana gawk and Zatara narrow his eyes.

* * *

 **Hello everyone,**

 **I've been a little preoccupied with a few different Fic ideas and this one seemed to call out to me saying 'Write me! Write me!' so I did. Am thinking, and have been planning out an Harry Potter/Marvel crossover as well.**

 **For those following My other Harry potter story, don't worry that will NOT be abandoned this fic will be more for when I need to be distracted from Harry's Hogwarts days.**

 **This is NOT the actual story, it originally began as a oneshot, but then i had an actual idea on how to write this story and started playing around with the ideas when I was doing research into voodoo, I don't like making things up without knowing what they can do, i spend over a week looking through different websites, blogs, videos, other fanfics that used or mentioned Voodoo, and i found out how i wanted the story to go.**

 **Then i scrapped it and decided that I would write it in a different way all together and not have Harry, who is Voodoo if you couldn't tell, so limited in one style of magic. I decided to look into various forms of magic and that led me to finding mention of magic done in some books and movies as well as other areas.**

 **I found interest in the Witcher series magic, the witcher signs not the sorcerers magics, which lead to interest in words of power and magical languages. So having looked into that i have found how i want Harry to be in the new series. Some may be wondering why i didn't just use an OC, it's because it has been well established that harry has magic and he also has a somewhat well known backstory which i can change to suit instead of having to make one for an OC. So I'm lazy.**

 **Haven't thought about Harry's Hero/Villain name (Not planning on using Voodoo) so suggestions would be welcomed.  
Haven't decided on things such as time line and story progression but the story will cross over with Young Justice, which will be the main portion later, The Batman (the Tv series which was on Cartoon Network ages ago, don't know if it's still on), If people want to see Harry return to / Go to Hogwarts then i will most likely do it for the Goblet only, since it's really where Harry will show he isn't the hero for them. **

**R &R if you feel like it.**


	2. Chapter 1

The sound of fresh show being crushed under his small feet was all that was driving him forward, there was nowhere that he could go, and he didn't know where he was. How he'd gotten there. Or even what time it was. All that he knew was that it was the middle of the night and he was cold.

He could see his breath mere inches from his face, the small fragments of glass that remained in his glasses was all that allowed him to see after everything that had happened to him… he didn't even know how long it's been.

His lips were dry and cracked, that much he could tell right away. He was so weak; from having nothing to eat for so long and he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to go on. Already his vision was starting to blur and black spots appear at different times, even the small amount of warmth that he had been able to get from the ratty jacket that he'd found was better than what he had when he'd woken up half covered by snow.

He had seen people walking around but after everything that he'd experienced over the last few years with his relatives he was worried that they wouldn't help him. He hadn't even done anything to the other people in the neighborhood but they all treated him like he was a criminal, like he was a freak.

He growled at the memory.

He wasn't a freak; sure there were several things that happened while he was in the area but there was nothing that he could have done about it, it wasn't like he'd wanted to do those things. The strange occurrences were something that just seemed to… Happen when he was around, he'd realized what it was when he was hiding in the library one day. But he wasn't sure about it.

There was no such thing as Magic, which was something that his relatives had told him.

He had learnt a great many things from his relatives, like the differences between what a family really was. The way that he was treated by his uncle and aunt was not the way that a family should have treated anyone, they were not his family, and _that place_ was not his home.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind a strange sensation overtook him, like something was ripped from… something. It wasn't as if something had been ripped from him, more like he'd just ripped something off another something, but he'd been walking for so long and there was nothing holding him back, but there was that strange feeling, as if he had previously been walking against the wind and now the wind had stopped or something had placed itself in front of him to buffet the wind.

He stopped and looked around himself, as best he could.

There was nothing other than trees around him. Large trees that were bare and had a few stray leaves that were turning brown and would soon fall off the trees, there were no stars in the sky that he could see, but there were a few gaps in the clouds above that allowed a small amount of moonlight to illuminate the snow around him, the moonlight reflecting off the freshly fallen snow looked like diamonds glinting in the darkness. It was the only light that he had to see by.

He pulled his ratty coat tighter around himself, attempting to draw warmth from the material. Pressing on he could just make out the sound of talking nearby, not knowing his chances he walked forward, ignoring whomever was speaking and hoping that he'd be able to find somewhere warm to hide. An empty park would be better than sleeping somewhere he'd be snowed on.

He trudged forward, his eyelids were growing heavy. He couldn't feel his fingers or toes, but that didn't matter, he needed to get somewhere out of the snow, out of the cold.

He felt himself fall, his body too weak to continue walking.

"…Red. He's never… before… you don't… … ren't fo…"

Someone was close, but he couldn't hear most of what they were saying. He didn't know where they were or what they looked like, but he was desperate.

Drawing on the small scraps of energy that he had he pushed himself to his knees and pressed himself against the tree that he'd tripped over.

"…it, I hea…thing…"

"…re…"

"Ov… ere."

He took two steps and felt himself fall once more, but instead of feeling the cold snow he felt warmth envelop him just as he fell away from the world of the living.

* * *

The smell of gunpowder carried through the air, shouts and screams rang out in a symphony of destruction and mayhem. The Moon was full and a fresh blanket of snow was building up throughout the city. It was the perfect night to break out of Arkham.

Former Psychiatrist Doctor Harleen Quinzel, more commonly known as Harley Quinn, former lover and sidekick of the clown prince of crime, known as The Joker, was waiting in her cell she had just finished a session with the shrink and was now waiting for the right time to strike. She knew that there was going to be a time to strike, she had spoken with Riddler and Penguin. They were both planning to escape, they were working together, Riddler was the one with the plan and Penguin was supplying the manpower and distraction.

Harley knew that she would be able to tag along with the destruction, after all her cell was right next to Riddler, they'd spent numerous nights trading jokes and riddles with each other, though many of both were repeats of those that they had told each other at different times.

So when the sirens sounded in the middle of the night, Harley knew right away what was going on.

"Riddler, what in the name of puppies and kittens is going on?!" She growled.

"Things have just gone a little faster than planned is all Harley, nothing to worry about." He replied, now standing outside his cell and before Harley. "Have fun."

Harley squealed as the door to her cell opened.

Without another word Harley danced out of her cell and snatched the key from Riddler.

Riddler shrugged and followed Penguins men out of Arkham while Harley made her way deeper into Arkham, heading for the maximum security section.

'Gotta find Red.' She thought to herself.

As Harley ran down the Halls she came across several groups of guards and minor inmates. The inmates were mostly heading for the exit that was near her cell but there were a few that were heading to the Maximum security section like she was.

When she ran into some guards she used her expert, and harshly trained Gymnastic skills to overwhelm the guards and steal their clubs. She took two clubs from one group of guards that had already been beaten up by some lackeys, then when the lackey's thought that she was easy prey she beat them senseless with the clubs.

"That will teach you for messing with me." She scolded the now unconscious lackeys.

Shaking her head Harley walked casually through the now deserted hallway leading to maximum security. Sliding the keycard through the scanner she paused momentarily when she saw that she needed the code but shrugged and entered the warden's birthday, in reverse, since it had been the password the last dozen times that she'd been sent to Arkham and when she had worked there before meeting the Joker.

When she saw that the code didn't work she thought for a second, then remembered something that they had told her when she had first entered the asylum as an intern.

She looked at the underside of the scanner and sure enough there was the updated code scrawled there in pencil. Easy to remove when they were going to replace the codes and no one other than the staff, and the few 'in the know' prisoners, such as herself, would think or know to look there for it.

As she swiped the card for the second time and entered the new code she sighed when the doors opened without an issue. She looked up at the nearest camera, knowing that there would be someone watching her now.

"Ya know, ya shouldn't place the codes where someone can find them so easy." She shouted at whoever was on the other end of the camera, she knew that they wouldn't move the codes, otherwise they'd post a note in the coffee room and anyone would be able to find it, this way they'd only get the codes for the doors that they were at, keeping the rest of the codes somewhat secretive.

Harley ignored the other people locked within the cells, mostly because she didn't care about whom they were or they'd gotten on her bad side on the outside. So she just walked through the catwalk between the cells, the maximum security wing had been redesigned after several meta-human criminals were added, instead of all the cells being next to each other with connecting walls the maximum security lockup had individual cells, barely more than three meters long by three wide, just enough room for a bed, a sink/toilet combination and some pacing room. That was all in the cells.

The cells themselves were reinforced _something or other_ , she didn't know what they were but they were supposed to be near impossible to break through, even those that were gifted with super strength, such as Solomon Grundy, who was some kind of zombie, Man-bat, who was really strong but did not have super strength, Killer-Croc, who was kept in a different area all together, they kept him in a sewer like cell beneath the asylum itself, and Clayface weren't able to punch through it.

Although Grundy didn't have the intellect to do so, he was a very simplistic villain, they gave him a few things and he was content to stay in the cells for a while.

Clayface was kept in a specialized cell that had several high powered heating lamps above that kept him dried out and weak.

Man-Bat was just too weak to break through the material.

Harley found the cell that she was looking for and dashed forward and knocked on the door, getting the attention of the inmate inside.

"Harl? That you?" Came the sleepy voice from inside.

"Yeah Red, it's me. They let me out early." She joked.

"Good behavior?" Was the sarcastic reply.

Harley fake gasped "How dare you suggest such a thing."

There was a feminine chuckle from the other side of the door "How will you ever forgive me?"

"I don't know…" Harley pouted "That was a very mean thing to say to a gal like me."

"How about, once I've taken care of my babies, the two of us go on a little rampage, to… ya know, celebrate and all that."

Harley shuddered at the flirtatious tone that was used, she knew what that meant. They always had some fun…both during the rampage and after.

"Deal red, but this time I get to be on top." Harley smirked.

"Deal."

Harley swiped the keycard that she'd nicked and grinned when the cell unlocked.

"How did you get the key to open my cell?" questioned a red haired, green skinned, emerald eyed woman.

Harley stopped and looked at the key card in her hand.

"Don't know, I just took it from some random guard." Harley replied, just as confused as she was. "Dumb luck?"

The emerald eyed women shrugged "Works for me."

She gave Harley a peck on the cheek and the two made their way out of the cell.

Together they freed several other inmates that were trapped within the cells; Two-face, Mad hatter, Deadshot, Firefly, Grundy and Man-bat.

Though it was more pity than anything for Man-bat, he knew it but didn't care.

The small group made their way down the hallway, heading towards the Prisoner Belongings Storeroom to collect their various 'tools of the trade' on their way out to freedom. The group picked up a few weapons from the fallen guards that Harley had defeated earlier, Two-face and Deadshot had taken the few firearms that the guards had on them.

"Couldn't these guys have anything better?" Deadshot groaned.

While he was an expert marksman the pathetic weapons that the guards had on them, Standard issue handguns, though he rose an eyebrow when he saw that Two-face had gotten his hands on a sawn off that one of the guards had been carrying.

"Luck was on my side tonight." Two-face had told him simply.

Deadshot sighed "It's going to cost me two bullets to work out how to aim with these things."

Harley reared on Deadshot "I coulda left you back in there ya know. Now I don't wanna hear any more about it, ya hear?"

Deadshot raised his hands to show he was surrendering the argument "I was just saying."

Harley just gave him the stink eye before seeing two guards heading for the group and decided that she would take her frustrations out on them.

Pulling two of the clubs that she had taken from the fallen guards earlier from her belt, Harley dashed forward, keeping herself low to avoid the bullets that they fired at her, when they she saw her opening she took it. She sprinted over to the wall, put all her weight into her right leg, using the tension to jump higher, kicked off the wall with her left leg and landed on the guard that was closest to her with both feet and swung both clubs into the second guards face, sending blood, teeth and saliva through the air as he slammed into the ground.

"And stay down ya bums." She growled at them.

The group just looked at Harley, they were used to seeing her normal reactions but something really seemed to be bothering her from what they could see.

The red headed women sighed and walked up to Harley, grabbing her by her blonde hair, forcing Harley to look at her, then without hesitation she mashed their lips together. She could feel Harley tense in her grip but just slipped her tongue between her lips and as their tongues battled for dominance she felt Harley's hands wrap around her neck, pulling her closer. After a moment she pulled back. Harley was breathing deeply and her face was dusted pink.

"Feeling better now?" She asked Harley, who just nodded.

"Thanks Red."

"Hey Ivy, if your handing it out why not share some with us?" came an obnoxious voice from further down the hall way.

"Oh, you are not holding what I think you're holding." Deadshot growled.

All eyes focused on what the stupid no-named grunt was holding, and those that knew Deadshot, or had worked with him at least once, which the no-named grunt clearly hadn't, let out a groan.

"What?" the grunt asked.

"Don't you know anything?" Harley shouted. "That's Dead-Heads rifle." She pointed at Deadshot. "Everyone knows that there are only a handful of things that you never touch in Gotham; Poison Ivy's plants, Two-Face's coin, Freeze's suit, Harley Quinn's Mallet and Deadshot's rifle."

Deadshot cocked the Hammer on the stolen handgun.

"And that there's Deadshot's Rifle." Poison Ivy grinned.

Before the grunt and the few thugs were able to do anything the sound of gunfire filled the air for a split second.

Silence hung in the air before three thuds were heard.

"Huh." Deadshot said as he looked at the stolen weapon once more. "Looks like at least one of the guards knows how to look after their weapon." He shamelessly slipped the weapon into his waistband, walked forward and picked up his weapon.

"We all good now?" Harley asked.

Deadshot shrugged "Sure, why not."

The group were able to make their way out of Arkham with ease, having retrieved their respective property from the lockup and gone their separate ways.

Harley squealed when she saw that there was a fur lined coat in the lockup and had pried the lock off the locker containing it. Ivy smiled and gave Harley a peck on the cheek as she picked up the coat that Harley had left in her own locker, it had been taken from her when she was admitted to the Asylum in the past but she hadn't taken it with her after leaving. It was also one that Ivy had given her in the past.

Poison ivy raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Harley.

"What?" Harley asked, as if nothing was wrong. "I knew where it was, do you really think that I was going to leave it somewhere Joker could get his grubby mitts on it?"

Ivy shook her head, knowing that she couldn't argue with Harley. She shrugged on the jacket and the two strolled out of Arkham, after Ivy had set the plant life on the guards and the police. They were fortunate that they had escaped when they did, because when they looked back they saw the all too familiar outline of the man that had locked them in Arkham gliding through the air.

* * *

Harley and Pamela walked through the abandoned park arm in arm. The whole of Gotham knew that this park was too close to Ivy's home/Greenhouse to feel safe, though as long as people didn't bother her or destroy her plants Ivy was more than Happy to leave people alone, for the most part. But after the few times that the wannabe thugs and smaller gangs had taken to trashing the now abandoned park after parties and heavy drinking, which always led to the damage of the plants since this was Gotham and thugs went wild when there was no one around to stop them.

So everyone took to avoiding the park all together which allowed Pamela and Harley to walk without a care in the world during the odd times that it took their fancy and they weren't working on something either together or apart.

"Do you remember the first time that we met, outside of heists and Arkham an' all that?" Harley asked.

Ivy nodded.

"I do. You turned up at the front of the greenhouse crying and hurt." Ivy sighed. "It hurts to even think about what happened before you came to me. You didn't wake up for nearly a week, even after I gave you the injection."

"I know Red, but at least we're together now because of that." Harley said as she cuddled up closer to Ivy. "I still don't know what caused him to go that far. He'd never gone that far before, if it weren't for you…" Harley's voice died in her throat.

They both knew what would have happened to her.

Harley had barely been standing when she'd turned up, and it was only because Pamela had spotted her out of the corner of her eye when she was fixing one of the glass panels on the greenhouse when she was in the mood to do something other than work in her lab. The list of injuries that Ivy had found would have been lethal to anyone, well anyone short of a large amount of Meta-humans that were popping up.

Ivy opened her mouth to say something but Harley cut her off.

"Wait. Do you hear that?"

"I think so, where-"

"Over there."

Ivy looked at where Harley was pointing and was running towards, her eyes widened when she saw what had caused the sound that Harley had heard. She would never doubt Harley's randomly amazing senses, she hadn't heard anything, nor had her babies told her that anyone was in the park with them. Even though it was snowing and most of her babies within the forest were sleeping, there were still a large number of plants that would be awake enough to realize that someone was around and send word to her.

"Ivy, he's hurt." Harley shouted as she picked up the small child.

"Let's get him home." Ivy said.

"We can't just take h-"

"Our home, Harley." Pamela snapped.

Just because she's an eco-criminal doesn't mean that she would send a kid, that was so close to nearly dying in the middle of a snowy wintery night in Gotham city back to wherever he'd come from. The look of relief and gratitude in Harley's eyes told her that she was making the correct decision, there was also a strange feeling that told her that she was doing the right thing, or was it from seeing the look of pure love from Harley?

They didn't waste any time getting back to the Greenhouse, Harley held the small boy close to her chest after wrapping him in the coat with her hoping to warm him up while they ran. There was something about this kid that made them want to protect him. It was strange but it was something good, that much she could tell right away.

Perhaps this was a chance that she had been waiting for.

Even though Pamela Isley, Poison ivy, was a criminal, being a warrior for 'The Green', the power behind all plant life throughout the world, and her lover Harley Quinn. There was always a portion of herself, her original human self that remained behind.

When she had been… transformed into Poison ivy after everything that happened at Star Labs she had lost herself for so many years. It had taken the combined feats of Batman, Catwomen, Harley, Two-face surprisingly, and a team of psychiatrists to help her realize that even though she was now Poison ivy, she was still Pamela Isley, a women that loved her plants and wanted nothing more than to make the world a better place for her to raise a family in one day.

She had ran countless tests on her new body after stealing some of the machines and processers from Star labs after her accident, she had found that chlorophyll now flowed through her veins along with blood, allowing her to draw strength from sunlight and allowing her to survive on water a pure minerals from the natural environment, although it wasn't something that would allow her to survive indefinitely as her human half still needed actual food and water to survive, though she was able to survive on a vegetarian diet she did like the odd piece of steak from time to time.

But for something so beneficial she knew that there was going to be drawbacks somewhere, and she was right.

Her life was completely tied in with the wellbeing of the world, she found that should a large portion of plant life around her died or were poisoned in any way she would feel it and be affected all the same, should anything force her to break her connection to the green she would die, these she could easily accept. But there was one thing that caused her to grieve, a side effect that she hadn't known about.

She had only found out about it following a random conversation between Harley and Selina, also known as Catwoman, apparently the two had both been suffering during their 'Time of the month'. Harley had mentioned that Ivy hadn't mentioned anything about suffering about it since they'd been around each other. It lead to her doing a few tests on herself. When the tests came back she wailed and cried in anguish.

She would never have a child of her own.

As soon as Pamela and Harley arrived at the greenhouse ivy manipulated the plants to open the gate and the front door, they quickly rushed into the infirmary/lab that had been set up after the umpteenth time that Harley was injured when she came to Ivy's, whether it was from a job gone bad or from the Joker himself.

"How do we treat him?" Harley questioned.

"We need to warm him up, but we can't let him near anything too hot. So we can't use heat lamps, hot water or direct heat on his body." Ivy told her. "We need to get him out of those clothes and under some blankets."

"But you don't have any blankets; we always use one of your sleeping flowers." Harley said.

"I know." Ivy growled, cursing the fact that she hadn't ever thought about keeping basic essentials just in case something happened Harley or someone had needed something, the only thing that could be considered a 'basic essential' was a first aid kit, and that hadn't been restocked in quite a while now that she thought about it.

"We'll take him to the pod; it will prevent him from getting any colder. Harley, call Selena and tell her that we need anything that she can spare to treat someone with Hyperthermia, If she's not sure what to bring then tell her to bring blankets, warm clothing for a kid and anything else that she can think of." Ivy told her.

"I'd call freeze but I don't know if he's in Arkham or at a new facility." She added, Mr. Freeze was a villain that had to remain in a cryogenic suit to prevent his body from reaching above a certain Temperature, any higher than freezing and his whole body starts to suffer.

Harley dashed further into the lab to find the phone that ivy had…somewhere…

Ivy used her control over plants to grow one of her sleeping flowers inside the lab; thankfully there was enough room for it, though it didn't need to be that big for the child to sleep on.

The vines located throughout the greenhouse obeyed Ivy's unspoken commands and started to bring her the medical equipment that she needed, using her bare hands Ivy tore the clothing open and gasped there were scars covering the young boy's body.

"Red?" Harley called out having heard her gasp.

Ivy shook her head and focused on removing the rags.

"Have you called her?" Ivy shouted back.

"She's coming, she said that we need to keep him warm and not put any heat on his arms or legs. We need to warm his torso so the cold blood doesn't damage his heart. She's got Freeze's number and will get some more information from him about what to do as she comes over." Harley shouted out.

"If she's still on the phone tell her that she can drive up to the front, just this once."

There was no reply from Harley; she knew that Ivy was taking it very seriously. No one was allowed to just drive up to the front of the greenhouse, not through the parklands anymore. Sure there was a road through the park since it was on a rather large plot of land and there was also the Botanical garden, which was now the large greenhouse that Ivy had taken over after her awakening. But she absolutely hated cars and other vehicles that used fossil fuels as they polluted the environment.

Harley removed all the clothing from the boy, though she did replace his underwear with some cleaver flower work, they would have to obtain (steal) some clothing for him when they got a chance.

"Selena said that we need to check his temperature and ensure that he was insulated from anything cold. She said that if he's awake we can give him warm things to drink but no coffee or booze." Harley said as she came running into the room.

All her energy seemed to stop when she saw Ivy move to grab something that the vines had brought her and saw the scars that covered his body.

"Harley." Ivy snapped, getting the girls attention. "Check his arms and find me a vein, I'll use the centrifuge machine to cycle his blood, the machine will take the blood out and will process it, if set it up to warm the blood but not separate it. This will help him greatly."

Without a word Harley moved to do exactly what she was asked.

It took her a few moments to find a vein that didn't seem too affected by the scars covering his body. When Ivy held the antiseptic wipe to her Harley quickly and efficiently cleaned the area, leaving a patch of yellowish-green liquid over the area where she was about to insert the needle.

"The machine is ready." Ivy told her as she handed the needle to Harley.

She nodded and lined the needle up and carefully slid the needle into the vein.

The boy seemed to feel the intrusion and squirmed, Harley placed a hand on his cold cheek, not rubbing it just letting him feel the ambient warmth from her hand.

"It's ok Hun, you're alright. We're not gonna hurt you." She soothed.

It seemed to work because he seemed to lean himself towards her palm, instinctively drawn to the warmth of the palm.

"You're good with him." Ivy noted as she pressed some buttons on the machine.

Harley shrugged "Something that I learnt when I was at school, bedside manner is important when dealing with psychology, since it's so intimate with someone at times."

Ivy nodded; she understood where Harley was coming from. After all she was the same with her plants; she loved each and every one of them as if they were her own children, hence why she called them 'her babies'.

They sat in silence for a few minutes with Harley just letting her hand rest on his cheek.

They both took in everything that they were seeing, the black hair that was filled with dirt, grime, mud and who knows what else, the scars that were covering the young boys body, both his small frail chest, where they were able to easily see each of his ribs in clear definition, and his back when they had lifted him up to remove the remains of the shirt. Harley snarled when she saw that someone had defaced the Childs body in horrific ways. On his back someone – no, some Monster, had carved words into his back, Harley had carved words into things before, but never on a body, dead or alive, that was crossing a line that she would never dare approach, not even for the Joker before she had learnt just how much of a bastard he was.

The word 'Freak' was carved several times over his back, in different sizes and one of which seemed to be fairly recent as there were signs of it still healing, though clearly infected with blackened skin around the edgings of the letters and a white _substance_ weeping from the wounds. Both women had to stop themselves from emptying their stomachs at the sight of it, Harley more than Ivy because she had the cord that connected the needle in the boys arm to the centrifuge machine running across her lap and her moving suddenly would rip the needle from his arm. But the main thing that allowed a cold skeletal hand to grip at Harley and Ivy's heart was the symbol of a holy cross branded onto the young boys' chest. It too was done fairly recently, though they weren't sure as to how recent it had been as neither were doctors, Ivy had a doctorate and several masters but nothing in a medical field, Harley was the wrong type of doctor all together, but there was no mistaking the blisters that were surrounding the branding.

Ivy roughly shot up from the makeshift bed and strode purposefully into the lab; Harley didn't know what she was going to do but knew that she needed space. Harley sighed and looked longingly at the young boy that had taken her attention.

"You know tonight Ivy and I were going to enjoy a nice stroll around the park together, just because you know." Harley sighed, carefully rubbing her thumb over his cheek.

"It's not often we get to do something like that. Just wander around without a care in the world, with no one coming after us, no one wanting to lock us up for something we've done." She continued to open herself up to the young boy that hadn't even looked at her, let alone spoken to her. "She's always been closed off from the world once she became Poison ivy and started fighting for plants everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love Red. But I just wish that she'd let herself bloom."

Harley snorted. "Bad flower pun."

The sound of a car pulling up outside stopped the conversation.

Harley rushed outside to gather everything that Selena had brought with her.

"Did you get in touch with Freeze?" Harley asked.

Selena nodded "He told me that the kid needs to be kept warm."

Harley nodded as she started grabbing blankets "Ivy set him up on a blood warming machine."

"Blood warming machine?" Selena asked.

Harley shrugged "It's not what she called it, but she told me that it would warm the blood then put it back."

"Oh…kay" Selena was completely confused, but put it out of mind in order for looking out for the kid.

They made their way into the lab when she saw Ivy smearing paste onto his chest, specifically on the area above his heart before placing a leaf over the top as a bandage.

"What's that for?" Selena asked.

"Burns." Ivy growled.

Selena raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"We brought some blankets, and Freeze told me what we need to do, since it doesn't seem like you want to take him to the hospital." She said.

Ivy cleaned her hands on her Arkham jumpsuit that she had yet to take off. "What do we need to do?"

"Keep him warm, away from anything and everything that will cool him down. Any heat on his arms or legs will just send cold blood back to his heart which will cause issues with his breathing, maybe even send him into cardiac arrest." Selena stated as she placed a stack of blankets on the floor before flicking one out and laying it over the boy.

"What's the best way to treat him?" Harley asked as she carefully moved his arm so that the needle wasn't going to be knocked around carelessly.

"Freeze said skin on skin contact was best, but because of Ivy's natural defenses she can't be in contact with him carelessly. He said that it would be best to have him somewhere with humidified air would help because the warmer air would flow into his lungs and then be spread through his body that way."

A few minutes later saw the young boy covered in no less than a half dozen blankets.

"His lips are still blue, but color is slowly returning to his skin." Selena stated as she checked him over. "So where did you find this little treasure?"

Harley shrugged "He found us, actually. Don't know what he was doing in the park-"

"The park!" Selena exclaimed. "He was outside dressed in those thin clothes? With all this snow, do you know what the temperature is out there?"

"Woah, Cat." Harley raised her hands in surrender. "Like I said, he found us as we were walking through the park. If we'd just gone straight home or if Riddles hadn't broken us out a day earlier than we'd planned then he wouldn't have been found until tomorrow, at the soonest."

Selena took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

"So what now?" Harley asked.

Selena gave Harley a cheeky smile as she removed her shirt. "We spend the night in bed with a cute boy."

Both looked down at the young boy that was shivering slightly on the bed.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, just wanted to point a few small things out.**

 **I know that my description of a centrifuge machine is more than likely wrong but I was drawing from my own experiences with said machine, I am a blood donor and recently used one of said machines to donate plasma, not going to go into the differences between blood and plasma, look it up as well as blood donations, something i recommend doing at least once in your life.**

 **Harry's age at the time is somewhere around 4-6 years old, though i'm not too sure, there will be a time skip in the coming chapters where things will have happened. Haven't decided about Hogwarts, at the original time of writing this i had decided that Harry wasn't in the 'Potter-verse' and had instead appeared in the 'Dc-verse' I can write in a Hogwarts arc, though it would be goblet, more than likely, but i can work around it.**

 **Next chapter will have some of Harry's powers appearing for the first time, he will have magic and a power/s, I will be working in various small crossovers, specifically Black clover, though will only be the fact that he uses a Grimoire like they do, and Eragon, where he can use the same sort of magic that they do, Look up the Eragon movie, specifically the scene in the forest where he saves Brom's life and the final battle to understand.**

 **If anyone has a Hero/Villain name for Harry feel free to drop it in the reviews.**


	3. Chapter 2

Harry nestled deeper into the warmth. He didn't know where he was, but he was happy that he wasn't stuck in the cold snow and whatever he was laying on was warm and softer than anything that he'd ever felt before. There was something poking him in the side, he groaned and moved slightly onto his side and buried himself into the soft warmth, there was something there, it was small, though it was welcoming to him, for some reason when he buried himself further into its warmth.

"You know, most men would kill to be in this position." A female voice spoke.

A giggle from whatever it was that he was holding compelled him to open his eyes.

Harry was met with the sight of pale pink flesh.

"Hey sweetie, 'bout time you woke up."

"Huh, who're" Harry weakly pushed himself back, away from whatever it was he was holding onto.

"Aw, Harley. Looks like he wants to cuddle with me instead." A smoother female voice said from behind him.

Harry went to turn around and look behind him but a pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him tight against her chest.

"Hey baby, it's ok. Just lay here a minute." The first voice soothed. "There's no need for you to move around so much. You're still weak from when we, or should I say – when _you_ found us."

"Huh?" Harry voiced, too confused about what she was saying.

"Apparently when Harley was on her way home you stumbled your way across her path, she and her partner brought you here to get you out of the cold. You've been sleeping for the last three days."

Harry's eyes widened in shock and went to get out of 'Harley's' grip.

"I need to-"

"You need to nothin', Hun." Harley scolded as she pulled Harry closer. "You are barely recovered from your hypothermia. Your body can't handle too much moving around right now, so you just lay down and try to get some more sleep."

"But he should have something to eat before sleeping again."

Harry looked towards where the third voice was located, but because of his bad eyesight and the lack of glasses meant that he wasn't able to see anything other than a large green blur with a smaller red blur on top.

"Who's there?" He asked as he squinted, attempting to see who was there.

"It's ok. Your glasses were broken at some point. Once you get some sleep we'll get you some new ones so that you can see again." The green blur said.

He liked her voice, there was something about it that made him feel safe, the other two voices made him feel safe too but the lady he couldn't see made him feel safer than they did, even though the first two were who he'd been sleeping beside.

"Where am I?" He asked as he felt something being wrapped around him.

"Hang on a minute baby, let's get you something to wear if you're gonna be awake for a while." The second voice said, before adding "Though you really should sleep some more."

A moment later something was being pulled over his head and his arms were being moved by someone else.

"There, how's that?" Harley questioned.

"It's fine." He said, after all these weren't his clothes. He'd never had clothes of his own before, the only ones that he'd ever had were his cousin's hand me downs.

Unseen by Harry three pairs of eyes were looking at each other and having a silent conversation. Over the last few days while he had been sleeping they had taken stock of everything that they had seen and examined from the sleeping boy.

He was drastically underweight, so much so that his ribs were visible to their naked eyes, the numerous scars that he'd had, the carving on his back, the brand of the Holy cross over his heart, the poor eyesight that they'd figured he had, though they weren't sure that the glasses that he'd been using were even the correct prescription that he needed as Selena had taken the fragments and had them tested by a friend who told her that they were cheap reading glasses, some the he had in stock and cost no more than a few dollars. Ivy had spent the last few days making salves and herbal concoctions that would boost his immune system as best she could, she was wary about using anything that she had grown, sure she knew that they were safe for consumption as Selena and Harley both ate them on a regular basis but the young boy was too weak to actually eat anything, she had been dressing and redressing the blisters on his chest and the horrific carvings on his back, thankfully the words on his back were fading slightly and the infection seemed to be clearing up, but she wouldn't be happy until he was back at the proper weight and all those scars were taken care of.

Once he was wearing a shirt Ivy handed him a cup filled with water, with some elderberry juice added in to help since the berry was known for having a large quantity of vitamins and minerals so would help him to recover from the hypothermia.

"Drink this, slowly. Your body hasn't eaten or drank anything properly for the last few days, we were able to give you small amounts of water while you were sleeping but you will be eating lots of fruit, nuts and other things to help you. Once your better we will be getting a friend of ours to look you over. He's a doctor so he will be able to tell us what we need to do in order to get you back to the proper weight." Ivy told him.

Harry was listening to the lady as she spoke but he didn't know what to say, he was still scared that they were going to kick him out and send him back to stay with his relatives, which was something that he didn't want to happen. So he did what he was told and drank the water that he was given, he was surprised to realize that there was a fruity taste to the liquid.

"So what's you name cutie?"

"Harry Potter, Ma'am." He replied politely.

Harley snorted. "There are no Madams here Harry."

"I'm sorry." He quickly said and bowed his head.

Harley, Selena and Ivy all looked at each other. It seemed that their thoughts were correct.

"There's no need for that Harry. You can call me Harley or Harl, or anything else like that."

"OK." Harry said quietly.

"I'm Selena." The other lady beside Harry added.

"And you can call me Pamela, or Ivy if you want." Ivy said as she took the now empty cup from Harry and refilled it from a jug.

"So what were you doing outside in the snow Harry?" Selena asked.

Harry seemed to shrink into himself "I got lost."

"Lost? Or were you running from someone." Ivy pressed, she didn't like beating around the bush about such topics.

Harley and Ivy had both agreed that they wanted Harry to stay with them, Selena, acting as the voice of reason, questioned about what would happen if they, Ivy and Harley, were sent back to Arkham once more, as was so common.

Harley had snorted and said, as if it had already been decided, that he would stay with her, Selena.

Knowing that she had no choice in it she had agreed.

Harry said nothing.

Selena sighed.

"Harry, honey." She said soothingly. "We saw the scars and the burns."

Harry gasped loudly and started to squirm; attempting to get away from the women, but Harley's grip was tight, soft and comforting, but tight enough to hold him in place.

"Easy now." Harley said softly.

"Harry, we're not going to send you back to those _monsters_." Selena said.

It seemed that those words were exactly what Harry needed to hear as he stopped attempting to move away from Harley and just looked at the area where Selena's head was with wide eyes.

"Really?" he asked quietly.

"Of course." Ivy stated.

 _Sniff…_

Harry started bawling his eyes out.

The sudden show of powerful emotion caught the trio off guard, but Harley just smiled and pulled Harry tight against her chest, kissed him on the head and just let him cry.

The sight was a little strange because she wasn't wearing a shirt or bra, having opted not to wear one a long time ago when she started working with Joker after an offhand comment about how women's breast looked better when they weren't being held stiff by a bra, though Selena had opted to keep hers on when she had snuggled close to Harry.

They hadn't said what they were going to do with him but he was just so happy that he didn't need to go back to them that he started crying.

Harley rubbed Harry's back and whispered kind words to him as he cried on her chest. Selena and Ivy both knew that Harley wasn't going to be letting him go anytime soon not after everything that they'd just witnessed and had discussed whilst he was both sleeping and awake.

Selena slipped carefully out of the bed and got herself dressed before taking a seat nearby.

"So what are you going to do?" Selena asked Ivy.

The redhead sighed and shook her head "No clue."

"We can tell that Harley wants to keep him, especially after the fact that she loves kids and hates to see them abused, so he'll be staying for a while I know that much. But I don't think that I can be a parent Selena, not with everything I've done."

"How so red?" Selena asked. "I know we're criminals and all that but that doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do for him, especially since Harley will not let you send him away unless she's absolutely sure that he'll be happy and safe where ever he goes, and that she'll get a chance to see him whenever she pleases."

Ivy groaned "I know, that's why it's an issue."

They sat a while longer and watched as Harry cried himself to sleep in Harley's arms. They knew he was asleep when the crying stopped and there were only whimpers for several minutes. Harley joined them in the lab after wards.

"There's a slight issue Ivy." Was the first thing Harley said when she walked in.

"Oh? And what's the issue?" Selena asked.

Harley wrapped her arms around Ivy and kissed her on the cheek.

"Little Prince Harry in there is British." She said.

Selena and Ivy blinked.

"You don't like Brits?" Ivy asked, completely taken off guard.

"That's not what I said, you goofball." Harley scolded her lightly "He's from England, he doesn't know that we're in Gotham or that he even left the Kingdom."

"Then how did he get here?" Selena seemed to catch on.

"He said he just appeared in the snow before." Harley said.

"You think he has powers?" Ivy questioned.

"A power like that could come in handy on a few jobs." Selena purred.

"He will not be doing any jobs for you." Harley stated seriously. "If anything, he'll be pulling jobs with me and Ivy."

Ivy wriggled herself free from the iron grip of her lover.

"Now wait just a second here!" Ivy raised her voice. "He is a young boy that has found his way to Gotham without knowing how he did so or even where he is."

At least the two of them had the decency to look abashed.

"The first thing that we need to do is make sure that he is taken care of then we need to find out who he is."

"But we know his name Ivy. He said it's Harry Potter." Harley stated.

Selena said nothing which causes Ivy to raise an eyebrow.

"Something wrong Selena?"

"I don't know… It's just the name rings a bell…" she mused.

"You've heard of Harry before?" Harley asked pointedly, thinking that Selena could have heard about this and done nothing.

"Not Harry, exactly. But the name Potter." She told the pair.

"Where would you have heard that?" Ivy asked.

Selena shook her head. "I don't know. I just know I've heard the name somewhere before and now it feels like it's right on the tipoff my tongue."

Harley grinned "Then poke your tongue out and let us see." She said, before doing exactly that.

Selena just gave her a deadpan stare while Ivy smiled and shook her head.

"That wasn't what she meant Harl. It's an expression meaning that while she knows it she just can't pinpoint what it is that she knows."

"Ooh." Harley nodded. "Then how do we find out?"

Both Selena and Ivy seemed to think for several moments before Selena offered a suggestion.

"We could run his finger prints through the police database, there might be something in there about him, or someone he's related to." She said.

"How do we do that?" Ivy asked "Waltz right to the station with him in our arms and say 'Hi, we found this kid in the park half frozen and took him back to our hideout where he slept beside a naked Harley Quinn and Semi-naked Catwoman, he's from England and we don't know how he got here.'?"

"Doesn't Nigma have something like that?" Harley asked.

"What do you mean?" Ivy asked, this having been the first she's hearing about this.

"He was saying something once when we were in the asylum a while back about him getting his hands on police software, saying that he was planning on using it to leave false fingerprint clues for Batsie to follow." Harley said. "Though Bat-brain got his hands on him first and stopped him from using it, he could still have the information or some way to get it."

Selena and Ivy looked at each other and shrugged.

"It's a place to begin at least." Ivy voiced.

"Harley and I could go see him in a few days when Harry's feeling better. Harley and I'll be in plain clothes, we'll get him a few odds and ends while we're out as well." Selena offered.

Ivy and Selena just looked at Harley then at each other once more.

"We're going to end up keeping him aren't we?" Ivy questioned.

Selena answered by pointing at Harley who had slipped outside the lab and was laying down next to Harry, his back against her stomach and her hand wrapped around his.

* * *

Harry ended up sleeping until the next morning with Harley in the flower bed. A quick call to Selena saw Harley and Harry were heading to Selena's apartment a few minutes away from the Park.

"Miss Harley, where are we going?" Harry asked.

"You don't need to keep calling me 'Miss' all the time Harry." Harley said as she turned the corner. "Just call me Harley, and to answer your question I am taking you to Selena's apartment to see a friend of hers who will take a look at you and help us figure out how to best help you."

"Like a doctor?" Harry asked, sounding oddly hopeful.

Harley raised an eyebrow at his tone.

"Yeah, he's a doctor but because of whom I am… well let's just say I can't walk into a doctor's office throughout the city without someone coming and taking me away."

"Please don't go." Harry said pleadingly.

Harley laughed softly as she pulled up to a red light.

"I'm not going to go anywhere if I can help it Hare-Bear, and should anything like that happen Selena and Ivy would come and get you from wherever you ended up." She said as she reached over and squeezed Harry's hand.

"You promise?"

"On my life." She said in a motherly tone.

They spent the next few minutes of the drive in silence until they pulled into the underground parking lot of Selena's apartment building.

"C'mon, we gotta take the elevator up." Harley told Harry.

"Can I press the button?" Harry asked.

"Number 24." Harley replied.

Harry needed a little help to reach the button; Harley took the chance to kiss Harry on the head as she held him. When they arrived at the room Selena met Harry at the door and gave both a hug.

"Come on in, doc just arrived." She told them.

Hearing that his patient just arrived the doctor came into sight.

"Hello there." He smiled warmly. "I take it that this is the young man I was called in to take a look at?"

"Yeah this is Harry, he was recovering from Hypothermia." This got a sharp look from the doctor. "And we thought that it was best to get some medical insight, just in case there was something that he needed and we didn't know it."

"Alright then, I think it's best if we begin right away." He said curtly. "Though I have to say despite the clear signs of malnutrition and muscle development, he seems to be recovering from Hypothermia rather well, but I still want to run a few tests to be sure that he won't develop any illnesses from it, even after it's been a few days."

They followed the Doctor into the lounge room where a portable table had been set up with a medical bag on the table nearby.

"Ok Harry, jump up on the table and we'll take a look at you."

Harry looked at Harley questioningly, but did as he was told when she smiled and walked with him.

"Seems rather attached to you." The doctor noted, clearly amused.

Harley raised an eyebrow in a silent warning. "Is there an issue with that Thorne?"

The now identified Thorne raised his hands in surrender.

"Just an observation, it just speaks about what I'm expecting to see when I examine my patient."

"As long as you're going to examine him as one of your normal Patients. Not one of the special ones." Harley warned.

"At this moment, Miss Quinn, I am a doctor about to examine a patient that someone has brought before me, and as such I will treat him as his doctor, regardless of what else I am." He remarked.

Harry was confused but said nothing and allowed the adults to talk around him.

Thorne reached into his bag and pulled out some gloves and a stethoscope.

"Ok Harry, I am going to take a listen to your breathing. So when I tell you I want you to take a deep breath and hold it until I tell you to let it out. Can you do that for me?" He asked, to which Harry nodded softly. Thorne gave him a smile and placed the earplugs of the stethoscope in his ears.

The next hour and a half was filled with Thorne asking Harry to do various things; first they started with his breathing, which was clear and sounded unimpeded which was something that Thorne said they should be thankful for, since he was so young and weak, following that Harry was asked to close one eye and follow the light with his eye, Thorne was happy that his eyes seemed to be functioning properly but remarked that he wasn't an optometrist, but did give them a card for one that wouldn't question who they were or what their job was, all they had to do was make an appointment and be on time. Thorne looked at Harry's throat, in his ears and measured his height and weight before asking his age.

When Harry said that he was six Thorne froze and blinked owlishly. He said nothing but wrote something down in the notes that he was making as he examined Harry, before checking Harry's height and weight once more, he then followed up with measuring his chest, wrist and the length of his arms and legs. They finished up with Thorne drawing some blood from harry into various tubes and writing on each before placing them in a special container.

When they were done Thorne removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly, smiling in silent thanks when he was handed a cup of hot coffee.

"Harry is grossly underweight." Thorne stated after swallowing several mouthfuls of coffee. "There are clear signs of child abuse, but we won't know more until we get him under an X-ray Machine, for a full body scan. I can feel that several bones haven't been set correctly and they are far too small, leading me to believe that he needs a strict diet to help him gain weight."

"So, what does that mean doc?" Harley asked.

Thorne sighed "It means that Harry here, is very lucky to find you when he did. The way he is now, not to mention the fact his immune system needs the additional help from a diet, there would have been no way he would have lasted the night without you finding him."

The mood was somber but the two women were thankful for the help.

"Some good news at least." Thorne offered. "The scaring will fade over time, he might need a few balms to help but that's easily sorted with a prescription. There are no signs of infection but I'll be prescribing some Antibiotics just in case. But there is a negative side to this; the branding on his chest will not fade, there's nothing that I can do about that. The closest that I could say would be skin grafts but that's something I don't want to subject him too and once he's better we can revisit it then."

"Selena." Thorne voiced, getting the chosen women's attention. "I want you to bring him into the hospital the day after next, I'll pull a few favors and get him scheduled for a scan and have the results fast tracked, the best way to have this done is to have this logged as a legitimate child abuse case."

"We can't." Harley cut in.

Thorne looked at Harley. "Why not?"

"Because Harry's from England!" She said, as if it was the answer for everything.

It wasn't.

"Why does that matter?" he asked.

"Because when I found him he'd just appeared in the Park, thinking he was still in England. He didn't know that he was in Gotham until we told him." She told Thorne, who caught on with what she was saying.

"And if they realize what happened then they could take him back." He concluded. "Shit. Anyone getting their hands on a teleporter, especially someone of his strength, no matter what the circumstances were, is no one that we want to help."

Thorne tapped his finger on cup in his hand rapidly.

"Alright then, we run this as a specialty case. Strictly need to know. Drop a few hints and names, nothing that will let them know what's actually happening, but he'll need a whole new set of papers." Thorne said. "Sadly that's something I can't do."

Selena shook her head "Don't worry about it, we're going to see Nigma later. He owes me a few favors that I can call in."

Thorne nodded. "Then once you have the papers call me and we'll get it sorted out."

Fifteen minutes later Thorne was finished and had given Harry a pair of glasses that would let him see properly, or at least better than he had with his original glasses before walking out the door, Harley and Selena decided that it would be a good time to go shopping for some basic necessities for Harry. So after making a quick call to Ivy they took him to the mall, to get everything that he needed to stay with Ivy and Harley for a while.

* * *

Harley enjoyed taking Harry to different stores throughout the mall, the pair spending the time avoiding Selena as best Harley could manage, Harley took Harry to several of the different toy stores that were in the mall attempting to find him something to play with, though it was Harley who found things to buy instead of Harry. Selena caught up with the laughing pair when they had brought ice cream. Selena just gave Harley a pointed look.

"What?" Harley asked.

Selena's eyes flicked down at the Strawberry ice-cream that Harry was holding.

"He's recovering from Hypothermia Harley, do you really think it's a good idea to be having Ice-cream?"

"He said that he'd never had it before." She said.

Selena sighed but said nothing, knowing that it was a battle that she couldn't win.

She just placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and directed him to the nearest clothing store, Selena didn't allow Harley to take Harry anywhere until she had figured out what style of clothing that he liked, what colors, or whether he preferred boxers or briefs. Harley had found different clothing with bright colors or animals printed on them and forced Harry to try them on, though he did laugh when Harley had given him a Cat-Onesie to put on, he did so and when he walked out of the change room he saw that she was also wearing one.

The smiles and comments of how cute the two looked caused him to blush and laugh. Selena rolled her eyes but paid for the clothes that they had chosen, as well as the pair of Onesies because Harley would have walked out with it on either way and taken Harry with her. She'd told the two to stay in the food court while Selena took the clothes that they had purchased out to the car.

The glass ceiling above them shattered and people dropped from the ceiling.

"Hello~ people of Gotham City." A cheerful voice cried out. "Sorry to _drop in_ on you like this, but I felt an urge to do some shopping. Specifically of your precious money and belongings."

Hearing the voice Harley snarled. " _Joker_."

Harry had only been told briefly about Joker and what he knew wasn't very much or helpful. Ivy had told him when he'd seen her using her mallet on a strange doll like figure with white skin, a purple suit and green hair. Ivy told him that Harley was once a psychiatrist, then told him that she was a doctor that helped people who needed someone to talk to when he was clearly confused about what that meant.

Ivy told him that when she was supposed to help the Joker he made her fall in love with him, then hurt her really bad. When he said that he still didn't understand she smiled at him and told him that she'd explain when he was older.

"Hey boss!" One of Jokers men called out.

When the joker looked over the goon just pointed at where Harley was standing.

"Look who we found."

"Oohh!" Joker squealed mockingly "if it isn't my long lost love Harley, who'd have thought I'd be seeing you here."

"Knock it off J, I'm not your girl anymore and I never will be." She said as she moved Harry behind her, something that wasn't missed by the goon standing behind her.

"Boss." Said Goon grabbed Harry and yanked him away from Harley. "She's got a kid with her."

"Well now. This is a surprise, and just who might you be little guy?"

Harry gritted his teeth and said nothing, he'd decided that he didn't like whomever the Joker was when he'd heard that someone had hurt Harley, especially after she had been the one to safe him. He owed his life to her and he wouldn't forget it, not as long as he lived.

"Aww he's the small quiet type." Joker cooed as he backhanded Harry, the force of the strike sending him sprawling.

"Harry!" Harley shouted and attempted to race over to him but was stopped by two goons.

"So Harry is your name." Joker nodded and grinned evilly as he saw Harry's sad face seeing Harley being held by the goons. "What about a game, eh? How's about we put a smile on your dial."

Joker flicked out his switch blade and approached Harry menacingly, Harry saw the dark look in Jokers eye and attempted to run away, but Joker was too fast for him and grabbed him by his collar, Joker whipped him around so that Harry's back was against Joker's chest with the blade now under his neck.

"Harley…Dear sweet Harley." Joker crooned "Where, oh where, did you meet this little guy?" The clown asked.

"None of your business Joker." Harley growled then looked at Harry. "Don't worry Hare-bear, we'll get you out of this lickity split."

Joker cackled. "Did you hear that boys?! She's going to get him out of this."

Joker and his goons laughed amongst all the terrified people.

"Why don't you tell me Harley, just how you're planning on getting him out of it?" Joker growled, pressing the blade deeper into Harry's neck.

Btu there was a strange sense of no resistance of knife meeting flesh leading to the hostage shaking in fear. Joker froze and looked down at the boy he'd taken hostage in confusion, he was right, the boy wasn't afraid of the knife or the fact that he was a split second decision away from dying, by Jokers own hand even.

"Why aren't you afraid?" Joker asked wearily.

Harry shrugged slightly. "Not the first time a knife's been held at my throat and the last time someone did it they did much worse than cut my throat."

Joker froze and looked at his goons. They'd also stopped and were looking at the kid in confusion, a brief look saw the same confusion, though mixed with fear, coming from the other hostages around him, and he looked at Harley and didn't see the confusion. She knew what the kid – Harry, was talking about and wasn't surprised.

"But there's one thing that's different about back then and now, Mr. Joker." Harry said, pulling the attention back to him.

"Oh?" Joker raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"I have someone that wants me to live." Harry breathed then to everyone's shock a strange chill filled the air and dark shadows seemed to dance along Harry's skin, making it darker in comparison to what it was before. "And I really don't want to let her down."

The shadows burst off Harry's skin, the force sending Joker crashing back several meters knocking over loose chairs, tables, trolleys and people. Joker's blade flying through the air and slamming into the wood of one of the booths with an echoing _thud_ , the blade embedding itself mere inches from a young woman with light brown wavy hair, her only reaction was to raise a single eyebrow at the young raven haired boy, eyeing him curiously.

"Harry!" Harley shouted as she leapt to her feet and scooped Harry into her arms in order to protect him. "You stay away from him Joker, you hear me! Stay away from him or I'll hurt ya, I swear I will."

Two of Jokers goons rushed over to help their boss, lifting him by the shoulders and dusting him off until he angrily shrugged them off, growling at them as they shared a questioning look at him.

"So you want to play, do you?" Joker snarled, pulling out another switchblade from his coat.

"How many of those things do you think he has?" one of the goons asked.

The other grunt just shrugged and moved to stand imposingly behind the joker.

"Well two can play this game Harley." Joker growled.

As joker went to slash Harley a loud crack echoed through the now silent room and Jokers blade clattered harmlessly on the floor.

"I just don't this that this would make a _Purr-_ fect place for a fight, don't you agree Joker." Selena said.

All eyes looked at Selena who was now wearing her Catwoman outfit. The Military grade spun gara-aramid fibers gave her outfit a sleek but skin tight armored suit, the fabric bandana like closed collar gave her an added air of mystique, her cowl sported feline like ears while she wore gold tinted goggles to look more cat like, it was easy for anyone to see the sharp claw like tips on the gloves that she was wearing and a long flexible whip that she commonly had secured around her waist to look like a tail.

"Who let the cat out of the litter box?" Joker mocked.

"Aww Jokie, don't you know that you can't hold a cat down."

"Yeah. It's always better to lock them in a cage." He sneered. "Boys!"

Four goons, not including the two behind Joker, dropped the bags of loot that they were carrying and barreled through the hostages to beat down Catwoman. Selena flicked her wrist and smiled as she watched he whip, which had been laying on the floor doing nothing, flick through the air and wrap itself around the closest thugs neck, a quick strong yank and the thug fell, hitting his head on one of the tables, taking him out of the fight.

Not having taken her eye of the other three goons Selena was able to avoid a powerful punch from behind by Goon attacker #2, she was able to twist far enough that the base of her left palm slammed into the Goon's nose, a _CRUNCH_ announcing the now broken nose from the goon followed by a stomp on the balls took him out of the fight.

Goon number three was quick enough to tackle Catwoman, sending the two of them crashing over several chairs as the civilians scramble out of the way, slamming both hands into the goons wrists forced his grip to break, freeing Selena just in time to catch the punch the final goon threw. She caught the offending limb by the wrist, quickly spinning on a dime she threw the goon over her shoulder and into its counterpart that was still recovering on the floor.

"Is that all your boys have Joker?" Selena mocked.

"Punch, Judy." Joker commanded "Grab the kid, this _Pussy_ is mine."

The two goons looked at each other and grinned widely.

* * *

The goons now named Punch and Judy grinned at each other, they were getting the easy target, they both knew that this was Harley Quinn, the Jokers previous, and only, right hand enforcer and Love interest. But the one thing that they were happy about was that they weren't really needing to fight against Harley properly, they just needed to get their hands on the kid and then she'd stop when they threatened to kill her.

But they had forgotten something, something very important and that would be their undoing.

"Harry, I want you to do whatever it was you just did if they get too close to you. I don't care about anyone else here but you. I'll make sure that Ivy and I explain everything to you when we get home, but right now I need you to be careful and let me handle this."

Harry said nothing but Harley felt him nod in her arms.

"Good boy." Was all Harley said as she released Harry from her grip.

Harley rose to her full height, though it was nothing compared to the easily 6 footed duo, of 5'7" and cracked her knuckles, she could hear the sounds of Harry's new shoes squeaking as he ran across the tiled floor of the mall.

"So which one of ya wants to go first?" Harley questioned.

The pair looked at each other and shared mad grins before both rushing at Harley.

As Punch, the goon on the right, lowered himself as he ran and Judy, the goon on the right just rushed at her, Harley spun to the right, slipping between two tables that were beside her, Punch slipped as he ran and slammed head first into the end of one of the booths in the food court. Judy stopped suddenly, though he did stumble slightly, before resuming his rush.

This time Harley didn't dodge out of the way, instead she grabbed one of the light chairs that were littered throughout the food court and swung it where his head was roughly going to be a mere second before he was there. It was a warning which he heeded as he skidded to a stop, but he didn't stop his attack.

Judy threw a wild punch that was close enough to Harley that she had to drop the chair and threw herself backwards, she continued the move and placed her hand on the ground, swinging her legs up into the air, narrowly missing Judy's exposed chin.

"Damned bitch." Judy growled, as he rubbed his chin.

"That's not very nice, especially from someone with such a feminine name." Harley mocked.

Judy growled and rushed in throwing jabs and wide hooks, in attempt to keep Harley occupied while he hoped that Punch was going after the kid. The wild attacks from the six foot goon and the evasive movements from continued for several moments, though the time seemed to be much longer than it actually was. Harley threw herself back onto her hands and continued with the gathered momentum to throw herself over the booth behind her in an impressive display of gymnastic skill.

Thankfully she landed in the best possible place. Right next to a young red haired young girl that seemed to be the same age as Harry looked and her mother, who was holding her tight and holding an extendable metal police baton in her hand like it was a bladed weapon. Harley cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the women and her child.

"Mind if I borrow that?" Harley asked, but didn't wait for an answer as she just snatched the baton from her grip, as loose a grip it was with her shaking hands.

Harley looked over the baton quickly, though it was partially extended it wasn't completely at its full length. She'd seen people using these in the past, she'd also taken a few from the cops that she'd helped Joker disarm and rope into his elaborate schemes, but she'd not taken the chance to really use one of these in the past, always having favored her mallet when in fights, especially when paired with her revolver.

AS she looked over the baton in her hand she smirked when she saw the glass smasher on the tip, as it was a weapon that civilians and police could both purchase and use it had different attachments that could be placed on the bottom of the handle, especially in Gotham. The most common attachments were a torch, the glass smasher and a secret pocket for a can of pepper spray. Harley was happy when she saw the selected attachment as she would be able to use it during the fight, not that she couldn't use a can of pepper spray but had it been the torch then it would have been useless.

She quickly flicked the baton to its full length, reaching roughly twenty something inches long, it was one of the longest two that were commercially available and logically useable. Judy had finally gotten around the wide booth that was blocking his way and was now approaching on Harley, though it seemed as if he hadn't realized that Harley was too quick for his powerful, but slow, punches as he attempted to beat her down again with powerful jabs and hooks.

Using the baton that she'd taken Harley smacked the insides of Judy's punches, upsetting his balance and waiting for the opportunity that would present itself, which it soon did. Judy threw a wide hook and had just overextended himself allowing Harley to see the attack and, while she wasn't able to bring the baton around to smack into his wrist, she was able to dodge out of the way and take advantage of Judy's unprotected right side.

Harley swung the baton and brought Judy to his knees by slamming into the baton into the back of his exposed leg, upsetting his balance. Judy dropped to his knee and Harley curled her hand into a fist before staring Judy right in the eye.

"How dare you come after Harry and me." She snarled before backhanding Judy with the back of her fist, when he was on the ground, she knew that he was still conscious, she pulled back her leg and kicked the grunt in the jaw, the force snapping his head back and rendering him unconscious.

* * *

Selena caught the offending limb by the wrist, quickly spinning on a dime she threw the goon over her shoulder and into its counterpart that was still recovering on the floor.

Joker and Selena squared off when the two remaining Goons… well these seemed more like henchmen really, since Joker had named them instead of just instructing them to do something, rushed off to retrieve Harry and beat Harley.

'I've got to take care of this quickly, I don't need to worry about Harley but Harry will need some help.' She thought to herself as she avoided several of Jokers patented metal throwing cards.

"What's wrong Cat?" He taunted her.

"Why would anything be wrong?" She countered as she shot forward and slashed the air where Joker had been standing before he'd slipped out of the way.

"Well, I was wondering why you were here, and why you were attacking me?" he said "After all this isn't really your style, right? You're all about the high class places, after all you do steal all those impressive statues and jewels."

"If you really need to know, I was here enjoying myself for a change and you interrupted my day off." She replied, ducking under one of Joker's high kicks.

There wasn't a chance for her to strike back as the joker took the chance to strike out quicker than she was able to handle, forcing her on the defensive. Joker back flipped over a chair, bringing it into the air along with him, he planted both feet, pressed to his chest, on the seat of the chair and shot it forward by thrusting both feet out suddenly.

Selena reacted by snapping her whip, the metal threading giving it enough strength to break through the wood but she didn't have the timing to avoid the Jokers sudden surprise attack. Joker used the split second that she was unable to see him to break around the row of seats and tackle her from the side, which she did not see coming.

Selena gasped audibly when she felt the chair slam into her side.

"Aww looks like the little kitten couldn't handle the tomcat." Joker giggled.

"And it looks like you need to learn how to play nice, Joker." Selena countered as she struck joker in the only place that she could reach properly.

"Ugh!" Joker's eyes bulged out and his mouth opened in a silent scream.

"You should know that all tomcat's get their balls removed when they're caught." She quipped "I'd be more than willing to remove yours, if you really want me to."

Joker let out a pained laugh.

"Who knew you'd be able to make jokes." He replied as he pulled himself to his feet. "But you just gotta learn, that there's more than one way to skin a cat."

He threw several more of his cards, forcing Selena to leap out of the way once more, she winced as the injury to her side was strained in the attempt, the sudden wince caused her movement to be slower, it wasn't a noticeable reduction in speed but it was enough to have one of the cards slice her shoulder.

"Looks like that cat's out of the bag now." Joker laughed as he followed after her.

He jumped high as she was coming out of her move, taking advantage of the moment she checked her wound, as he jumped he spun around, he was fast enough to make her desperate and push her on the complete defensive. As Joker's heel missed her head he landed and leapt forwards, landing on his hands, swinging his other heel, this time Selena wasn't fast enough and was caught in the ribs, resulting in the air being knocked out of her.

Joker looked at Selena with a bemused expression.

"Is this really the best that you can do cat? I've seen you fight better than that before, so what's the deal?" Joker questioned, it was actually confusing him.

He had seen Catwoman fighting both with and against Batman, she seemed to be on similar levels to the Bat himself, maybe not on the same level physically but she was somewhat faster than he was and more agile, while the bat was more refined and had a physical advantage over her. He even had an advantage over the Bat himself, he was more agile than the Bat, but lacked the same speed and flexibility that Catwoman had displayed, but where the Bat was refined he was more varied, using his own agility to strike from places that others wouldn't normally have been able to defend against, but the Bat had learnt how he fought after the third time that they had met, and had only been getting better every time. That wasn't to say that he wasn't able to fight back against the Bat himself but the Bat had the experience that he didn't have before.

Catwoman flicked her whip so that it wrapped around her waist once more.

"You want to see better, Joker. Then fine, I'll show you how a wildcat fights." She growled.

Without giving Joker a chance to react Catwoman launched herself forward, her claws extended and ready to attack. Joker grinned and allowed himself to play defensive, ducking and sliding around Selena's slashes and strikes, her attacks were fast and efficient, she was aiming to wound and debilitate Joker. She wasn't aiming to take him out completely, as her first attempts were easily avoided before she was even close to touching him, so she was able to tell that he was expecting it to happen and was more than ready.

The fact that he was able to tell what she was planning to do and where she was planning to strike was something that Selena begrudgingly had to respect about Joker, even though she completely hated everything that he'd done to Harley, and was nothing less than a complete and utter bastard, but he did know how to handle himself in a fight.

* * *

Harry ran away from where Harley was standing her ground, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get too far, just in case there were others nearby ready to do what the Joker said, after all it was what Dudley had done multiple times when he and all his friends had ganged up on him and chased him around the neighborhood last week, and many times before then.

So Harry looked around and decided that he'd hide behind one of the booths near the far end of the Food court, close enough to an exit and giving himself several ways out but also close enough to the center of the court so he could duck through and around several other tables and booths, there were an odd amount of booths for a food court.

Harry had just slipped behind the booth in question and looked over when he saw the large brutes rushing at Miss Harley, he grinned when he saw one of them crashing into the side of the booth and was holding his head in pain. He looked around and saw that several people were taking the chance to slip out of the area, which would mean that there wasn't anyone else that worked for the Joker around since people were able to run away, but he didn't know where he would run too.

He didn't know where the car was from the food court and he could be caught or get really lost if he couldn't find the store's that he'd gone to earlier, and that would be hard because Miss Harley and Miss Selena had taken him to many different stores on different floors of the Mall, he didn't know where Miss Ivy's park was from the mall or how to get back to Miss Selena's apartment either. So he was stuck in the food court, where the bad men where and the Joker was fighting against the lady in the strange suit with a whip, he had cringed when he saw the whip, several bad memories rushed through his mind when he saw it and heard the crack that it made.

Before he could think on what to do he saw that the man that had been holding his head had spotted him and was now crashing through the chairs and tables to reach him. He scrambled behind the booth, as it was several meters long but had tables pressed right against the back of the booth he was forced to move out from behind the cover that it gave him.

Using everything that he learnt while running away from Dudley and his friends, Harry swerved through the rows of tables and chairs, he stumbled several times over the handbags and shopping bags that the people had left on the ground when the joker had attacked the mall. There were a few times when he was nearly caught and he really didn't want to be caught.

Harry showed an impressive talent for evasiveness as he moved, quickly recovering from slips and trips but the fact that he was smaller than the person chasing him proved the deciding factor when he was grabbed roughly by punch. Harry's breath hitched when he was grabbed, his eyes widened in shock and a feeling of weightlessness overcame him.

A strange feeling of falling backwards overcame him and he could feel himself being spread out, as he was made of water spreading out across the ground. The next thing that he knew he was staring at the large man's back and was laying on the floor as confused as the larger man was.

Acting purely on instinct Harry rolled over quickly, avoiding Punch's field of vision as he turned around looking for him, ending up between two tables and obscured in the shadow between.

"Where'd he go?" Punch growled, turning on the spot to look all around.

Harry's breath hitched when he saw that the large man was looking directly at him but somehow, he wasn't seen by him.

The man was about to move when he was launched to the side by a large and powerful blast of frigid cold air, Harry was amazed seeing that there were actual snowflakes floating in the air near him.

"Leave him alone." A female voice cut through the air.

Harry looked towards the source of the voice and saw a lady standing there, a cold mist flowing from her outstretched hand, she gave off an imposing air.

"I will not warn you again, leave the kid alone or I will freeze your ass." Her tone of voice was commanding and did not allow for any arguments, sadly Punch wasn't going to defy Jokers orders and definably wasn't going to let some random women tell him what to do, strange power or no.

Punch let out a deep growl and rushed the woman, the lady's only response was a shake of the head and a stomp of her foot.

Harry was close to the floor so he was able to see what happened next.

The lady that had saved his life stomped her foot, other's missed the soft white glow that came from the point of contact where her foot met the ground, but Harry saw it. From her heel the white light rushed forward like a wave, though close to the ground, it rushed forward and swept under Punch's feet, though he didn't see it as he was so focused on getting to the lady. Wherever the light covered a slight glossiness appeared on the floor, being close to the floor and where the light had passed by him Harry could see that the thing that was covering the ground was solid.

He reached out to touch it, then drew his hand back sharply.

'Ice?' he thought questioningly.

Harry's head quickly whipped around to look at Punch and the Lady, he gawked when he saw that Punch was laying on the ground and not moving. The lady on the other hand was smiling softly at the man, as if she thought him a child that had just had a small hissy fit she walked around him, not paying him any attention, and walked towards where Harry was hidden.

"You can come out now." She said to him, her tone was soft and welcoming.

Harry slowly came out from underneath the table and the shadows that concealed him.

"You have a very special ability young one." She told him.

"I do?" He asked carefully.

She nodded "Yes you do. But I take it that no one has told you what it is, have they?"

Harry just got a strange look in his eye and looked away from the lady and said something under her breath, he didn't intend for her to hear it but she heard him regardless.

"I can say right now, that it's not 'Freakishness'." She said, attempting to calm the tension that appeared in his body language. "You have Magic-"

"There's no such thing." Harry's quiet voice cut her off.

She watched as the shadows reached out to him and he appeared to shrink towards them, right away she could tell that there was something wrong with his home life as she had seen many children coming from places that didn't welcome them for their gifts and skills. It hurt her to see someone that was so blessed to have such a natural mistrust of people, if she could help it she would take him in herself.

"Well, I'm half sorry that I have to tell you that the people that told you that are wrong. There is magic in the world and there is someone with Magic standing… well kneeling actually, before you, and I want to help you learn more about your gift." She told him.

"Why?" Harry asked, curious but weary about accepting what she was telling him.

He wanted nothing more than for magic to be real, to have a special power that others had and would allow him to be with people that could understand him, that wouldn't hurt him, would protect him… would love him.

The sound of glass shattering overhead brought Harry and the lady talking to him out of their small conversation and making them focus on what was happening. Harry's eyes widened when he saw a man dropping from the ceiling, a cape attached to his neck was outstretched allowing him to control his fall to a degree, Harry watched as the man brought both his legs towards his chest and landed atop the Joker, his weight keeping him trapped on the floor. Harry forgot all about the lady that was in front of him and ran through the food court right into Harley's arms.

"Harry." Harley breathed a sigh of relief as her arms wrapped around him. "Are you ok?"

Harry nodded as he wrapped his arms around Harley's waist.

"Alright you just stay with me now, alright."

Harry nodded again, and his arms tightened around her waist. He buried himself deeper into her warmth when he felt her own arm wrap around him.

"That's enough Joker, it's time for the spotlight to turn off." The stranger said. "The same goes for you Harley, you will be returning to Arkham with me."

The sound of many sets of heavy boots hitting the floor echoed throughout the food court and the mall itself.

"It looks like the cavalry has arrived." He stated.

Harley clicked her tongue.

"Harry no matter what happens, I will not let them take you from me." Harley told him "No matter what."

It seemed that Harley was trying harder to convince herself than she was trying to convince Harry, as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her side as she watched the GCPD surrounded the food court, they lined themselves along the rails of the multiple levels with their rifles on the top of the walls, pointing down to the bottom of the court, Harley could see that there were numerous rifles pointing to where she was standing.

"Harley Quinn, you are under arrest. Release the child or we will use force to do so." A voice boomed out through a megaphone.

Harley cursed under her breath.

She knew that voice and it didn't bode well for her.

"Hey Comish, How's it Hanging?" Harley called out.

"Daddy!" Someone called out.

Harley looked towards the voice and saw that it was the young girl who had been held by her mother, the same person that she had taken the metal baton from. It took her a few moments to put the pieces together before it all clicked into place.

'That's his wife and kid, shit!' she realized.

"Quinn, do it now!" Commissioner Gordon's voice echoed through the mall.

Harley growled and raised her arms "He's not being held against his will, Ya know!"

"Doesn't matter Quinn, you're going back to Arkham and there's nothing you can do that will prevent me from hauling your ass in." Gordon growled, not using the megaphone as he walked into the middle of the food court.

"Ya know, the only reason I'm even here today is because I was buying things for Harry." Harley replied, nodding to Harry.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure he gets back to his parents." Gordon told her.

He didn't see Harry start to shake and pull himself deeper into Harley's embrace, a strange feeling gripped at his core.

"I don't think so Comish." Harley said "You see, Red and I only got out of the nut house a little while ago, and we're not planning on going back anytime soon."

Gordon sighed and looked at Harley. "And what makes you think that Harley, because now I'm actually curious."

He started walking towards her, leaving his wife and daughter where they were standing with several other police there with them.

"Do you see how many officers are here? We're hauling the Joker away, what makes you think that we can't take you with us?" He asked. "Though I am curious about where you got the kid from, after all I can tell he's not your kid."

Harley growled.

"That doesn't matter, he's here with me, Harry chose to come with me and there's nothing you can do to take him from me." She stared him down as she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Gordon seemed to have had enough and walked with purpose towards Harry and Harley, several officers rushed forward with weapons drawn and ready to fire.

Without hesitation Gordon placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and attempted to pull him away.

"Gordon no!" a deep voice called out and the next thing anyone knew Gordon was flying back through the air and shadows consumed Harry and Harley, the shadows wrapped around Harry and Harley as if it were a form fitting wetsuit. Everyone stopped and stared at the statuesque Harry and Harley that was made out of shadows.

Then just as suddenly as it had appeared the shadow statue dropped into the ground and melded with the already existing shadows, as if it had never been there at all.

* * *

 **Hello everyone.**

 **I hope you're enjoying my story so far, i'm sorry if i should have had a warning or something about the injuries and such that harry has suffered, most of what i'm writing is right of the top of my head as this is the prelude to the actual plotline that I've worked out. Anyone that can guess whom the lovely brunette woman is will receive a mention (either their user or actual name {Don't worry I'll PM} mentioned into the series and it will actually be fairly soon, within the next few chapters I swear) within the story, I'm not giving any hints but i'll be charmed if someone can guess it.  
**

 **Yes Harry does have magic and there will be a Hogwarts within this reality, it won't be too involved with the main story but I will state that Harry will have a severe dislike for the Potter family, i don't know how that will come into play but it will be there.**

 **I am taking recommendations for Harry, they can be from any movie, anime, tv Series, etc. As long as they are female** NO way in hell am i writing Slash **They do not have to be Good or Bad, they can be either or I won't care, though i would like to know where you got the choice from so i can take a look at them. my original plan was for this to be a Harry/Raven story, look her up she's cool, but then i was watching The Mummy (with Tom Cruise) and thought how interesting it would be for that to be Harry, becoming the human embodiment of Set, gave it a few minutes and threw the idea away. Then thought about how he would go being hooked up with Ahmanet ( that is the proper spelling). So give me your best recommendations and if there are several that i like I'll put up a poll, or choose the one i like most.**

 **Any and all female pairing suggestions are welcome. As are recomendations for Harry's Villain/Hero name.**

 **Harry will be trained in Shadow Manipulation, Necromancy, Wand Magic, Voodoo, magical languages and several other areas. Thought that it would help people with their name suggestions.**


	4. Chapter 3

Phoebe watched as Harry ran over and hugged the lady that he'd apparently came to the mall with, Harley Quinn. She of course knew the name, and the face, of one of Gotham's biggest criminals, she had started out as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, that was common knowledge, where she had met the illusive Clown prince of Crime himself, The Joker. No one knew who the joker really was, which was something that the handful of psychologists had attempted to find out but never got the answer for, Harley had been the only doctor that he hadn't harmed whilst they were at the asylum.

The others had left with various wounds or had been so scared that they had resigned or asked to never be near him again, two had such powerful breakdowns that they, themselves, were admitted to the asylum.

Harley Quinn became the only person that the Joker had seemed to care for, though he treated her like crap. Abusing her physically, mentally and emotionally, many had thought or assumed that there could have been more than that but it was never proven or really asked once Harley thrashed the person that did ask her.

The way that Harry was holding her and the way that she was protecting him from the Joker's men and from the officers spoke to Phoebe more than anything else that she saw. Though that wasn't to say that she wasn't happy to see a child who could manipulate shadows in such a way that it seemed to be reflex alone, though there had been others that could manipulate elements in such ways before, someone that could manipulate shadows was rare, there had been others but a magical child that could control shadows was something that she'd been hoping for so such a long time.

Hopefully there was no one else from the academy, or anyone from the different divisions were here or would get wind of him before she had the chance to speak to him, or better yet to convince him to work with her.

Quickly working to make her way out of sight Phoebe ducked into a small alcove, obscured from sight Phoebe quickly vanished with a muted crack. The two officers that were following the strange woman that was slinking away from the food court looked at each other in confusion, they were sure that the woman was there a moment ago, but now she was gone.

"Never saw her?" one asked the other.

The other just nodded.

* * *

A chill washed over Harry and Harley as the shadows wrapped around them, the next thing that they both felt was a dull thud as they both were unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. The next thing that they heard was a girlish squeal.

"Heya Red." Harley smiled.

"Hi Miss Ivy." Harry grinned as he saw her.

Pamela smiled warmly "Hello Harry, did you have fun with Harley and Selena?"

"Yeah, we had Ice cream."

"Really?"

Harry nodded as he flashed her a large toothy grin, but Ivy could see that there was a strange look in his eyes.

"I'm going to go lie down, I'm sleepy."

Without waiting for anyone to say something he scurried away leaving Ivy and Harley alone.

Pamela looked at Harley who was somewhat shocked about how she had just appeared out of nowhere.

"So do you want to tell me what happened?" Pamela asked. "Though, do you really think that it was a good idea to let him eat Ice cream, he is still recovering from hypothermia."

"That's what Selena said." Harley grinned.

"Speaking of Selena, where is she?"

"Probably back at the mall, though Joker did attack and attempt to steal everything from the people that were there." Harley stated.

"Joker." Ivy's attention was drawn to the name. "What happened?"

Harley told Ivy everything that had happened, how she had taken Harry to see Thorne at Selena's apartment, then all the fun that the trio had at the mall, the various shops that they had gone to, all the numerous clothes that she had made Harry try on, by this point Ivy was starting to get annoyed with how Harley had taken her question too seriously and was telling her literally everything that happened, though she had to admit she was happy that Harry had had some fun while they were at the mall together, then Harley told her about how the Joker attacked the mall. Ivy wasn't too happy that they had targeted Harry when they saw that he was with her, they would need to teach Harry how to use his power since his teleportation skill was something that he could control, though at the moment it seemed that he had no real control over it.

"Did Selena get away?" Ivy asked.

"I didn't see her there when the cops arrived, but they were just behind Batman's arrival-

"Batman was there!" Ivy shouted. "Do you know what this means?"

"Uhh…"

"It means that he will be coming here, more than likely he's on his way here as soon as Joker arrives at Arkham, if not sooner." Ivy growled as she stomped away, planning to get things ready in case Batman really showed.

* * *

Selena ran through the parking lot, heading towards her car. Thankful that she was able to get away just at the GCPD were arriving and thanking her lucky stars that they didn't know what kind of car that she drove.

"Who is he?" A deep voice came out of the darkness.

Selena's run slowed until it came to a stop, she knew that she needed to tell him or at least give him something to take away or she'd be arrested, she'd been fortunate enough over the years that she'd been able to escape, either with or without the loot she'd been hoping to get, but there was no loot to be had now, everything that they'd brought today was in her car and she'd been taking her gear to get it fixed, she was lucky that it only needed a quick fix and nothing serious.

"Tell me Selena." The voice commanded.

"I don't know." She groaned.

"That's not an answer, you were with him today. I saw you shopping with Harley and the boy on the camera's as I was on my way, tell me what I want to know."

"Oh, come on Bats. If you saw him on the camera, then you'd know who he is by now." Selena replied.

"He has no record, as if he doesn't exist." Batman replied, though she couldn't see it she knew he was narrowing his eyes at her.

"Well that helps." Selena groaned "I don't know too much about him, but when Harley and Ivy got out of Arkham they found him not too far from Ivy's in the middle of the night."

"The night of the snow storm?"

"Yeah." Selena confirmed.

"That night they called me and told me the basics, they needed blankets and to get in touch with freeze to find out what they were supposed to do about it, since he's the best person to talk to about all that kind of thing."

"True." Batman conceded. "What else?"

"His name's Harry, haven't bothered with the last name."

"That's not what I mean Selena, and you know it." Batman growled.

"You know what _Bruce_." Selena rebutted.

"What?" He growled.

"The kid was badly hurt and I'm not telling you anymore, so go fuck yourself." She stormed off.

As she stormed off she knew that he was still close by and added one last thing.

"Stay away from the kid, I can tell he hasn't had many good things happen to him. I can't say much about their life choices, but I can tell you that they won't let anyone hurt him. Harley will spoil him and Ivy will keep her in line. Let them have this Bruce, for his sake, not theirs."

Without waiting for an answer Selena threw on her discarded shirt and slid into the driver's seat, she didn't know if he'd leave them alone, but she'd do what she could for them.

* * *

Phoebe appeared in the hidden alcove near her office, she walked down the hall heading to her office. She needed to make sure that she had the right papers with her when she spoke with the parents, or in this case Harley Quinn.

She, just like the rest of the city, knew that there was a chance that she could be found with Poison Ivy, another of Gotham's Biggest Criminals, but knowing where she was and being able to speak with either without risking her own life, or making sure that there was a chance that she'd be able to get away without dying was another thing all together.

"Miss Halliwell." Someone called out.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts Phoebe looked around.

Seeing who called her she smiled.

"Hello Samantha, is there something that I can help you with?" She asked.

Samantha nodded and tucked a loose strange of blonde Hair behind her ear.

"I had a question about the assignment that you gave the other day, when you were covering for Mr. Lucas." She said.

"What class was that again; sorry I've had a lot on my mind lately." Phoebe replied.

"Potions, the assignment on the preservative properties of Boomslang skin in the Polyjuice potion, instead of Mr. Lucas' advanced mathematics class." Samantha replied.

"Ah, that assignment." Phoebe nodded "What was the problem?"

"Well I was wondering whether or not it would be relevant if I mentioned the maturity of the Snake itself when the skin is harvest compared to the older or younger Boomslangs that are commonly passed off as the proper ingredient." She asked.

Phoebe had to think for a second. "I would say that mentioning the age of the ingredient is important, as would be the freshness of the ingredient itself. I know that Chris, sorry Mr. Lucas, made a point to mention the age of ingredients both when harvesting and then the time between use can affect the ingredient itself, so adding that into your report would at least show him that you were paying attention and it could add a few points to your final grade."

Samantha smiled, clearly it had been playing on her mind.

"Thanks a bunch Miss Halliwell. Will you be teaching Wiccan studies later this afternoon or has the new teacher arrived?"

Phoebe grinned as she walked away "You'll just have to find out for yourself."

She heard Samantha groan as she walked away.

Phoebe walked into her office and closed the door behind her, she quickly made her way to her desk, logged into her computer and dialed a number on her phone.

"Moe's Tavern, sexiest man alive speaking." The person on the other end answered.

"Moe you're an ass."

"Hey Phoebe, good to hear from you. What's going on?"

"Found someone interesting today, need an address and some info." She replied.

"Oh yeah? We found something interesting today too, got any teams to spare?"

"None on my end, they're all stretched thin as it is. Spirit launched an attack the other day and we're in the middle of cleaning up their mess."

"How bad?" came the voice on the other end, the jovial tone gone.

"Our TechnoMagic department took a hit, it seemed like they were targeting it specifically, we lost twenty-three students and four of them were ours, we also lost five teachers, two dead, three in the hospital."

The line went silent she knew that there was some talking on the other end.

"This is the first we're hearing about it." Came Moe's reply.

"I figured. Anyway about that information I need."

"Sure Phoebe, what do you need?" he asked.

"I found a young boy that can control shadows, not sure if he's magical or not, but either way if any of the others get their hands on him, or god forbid any of the ten hear about him, but if we get to him before anyone else then we could eventually get him to work with us."

"We do need all the help that we can get." Moe replied. "I take it that there's something keeping you from walking right up to him and inviting him to our side."

"Yeah, he's young, I'd say about small five, tall four."

"That is young. Is there an issue with the scholarship approach?" Moe asked.

"Yeah, that and his reactions to how I was speaking."

"Have you gotten so bored that you're scaring children on your days off now?"

"Moe." She said in warning.

"I'll take it back."

"I'm not sure what it was about his home life, but from what I saw I'd say his family had a violent reaction to accidental magic and he has found his way into the hands of Harley Quinn." She told him.

"The Clown Prince of Darkness' girlfriend?!" Moe Shouted down the phone.

Phoebe pulled the phone away from her ear as Moe shouted at her.

"First of all; Ow, and second of all; they went their separate ways a while back, she's hooked up with Poison Ivy nowadays." Phoebe told Moe. "And finally, from what I saw the kid and Quinn hold each other even when they were surrounded by the GCPD and Batman."

There was a low whistle from Moe.

"Damn, in that case it seems like the kids found himself a home with the Harlequin and Gotham's own Mother Nature." Moe said.

"Yeah, I know. That's what makes it hard to approach him." Phoebe said.

"I've just found the recordings from the mall." Moe replied. "And from what I can see this kid will be powerful, if that was just someone with powers he will be easy to train, but if he has magic then he could be powerful enough to help keep the balance, or at least we can put an end to the attacks on the Schools."

"That's the plan." Phoebe said, as she too was looking at the recording from the mall that Moe was sharing with her.

"How did you find this kid Phoebe?" Moe asked in wonder as he watched the repeating video. "He stood up to the Joker like it was nothing and blasted him back while there was a blade at his throat."

"Like I said, he's used to violence." Phoebe replied. "And I didn't 'find' him, I was lead to him."

"You had a vision?" Moe asked, clearly surprised. "Been a while since you've had one of those."

"Tell me about it." She remarked.

"Dinner?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes "Aren't you in Shanghai?"

"Yeah?"

"Undercover?"

"Well…"

"Oh and can't forget the most important part. You're _married_ Moe." Phoebe scolded.

"One of these day's I'm going to make you say yes, you do know that yeah?" He pointed out.

"Yeah, it'll be just you and me. Lisa will be there too, and your kids."

Moe sighed as Phoebe laughed lightly.

"Alright I think I found him, since Quinn went her separate way from Joker, which I am apparently behind on, she has been seen around Ivy a lot, so the best place to look would be Gotham Botanical Gardens. But you need to be careful when you go there, I'd recommend parking outside on the curb then walking through the park. There are reports about people, the cops really, driving into the gardens and attempting to arrest Ivy, she destroyed their cars and took control of them, if the police report is correct.

"Are you going to at least take someone with you?" Moe asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to do that, when he spoke to me he tried to hide in the shadows and when I even brought up the word Magic he immediately shot it down and said it didn't exist. So I think it's better if I do this myself."

Moe sighed again "You're going to give me grey hairs Phoebe."

"Then you'll finally look your age." She replied.

"You're so nice to me." Moe deadpanned "Alright, here's the info you'll need. I even gave you a map so you won't get lost, aren't I nice."

Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"Just do me a favor yeah…"

"Sure Moe." Phoebe replied, already knowing what he would say.

"Be careful yeah."

"Aren't I always?"

"Michigan." Moe stated.

"Wasn't my fault."

"Seattle."

"Lysander brought the werewolf to the club, not me."

"Shanghai, last month."

Phoebe swore under her breath. "At least we got the relic…"

"And how many Triad members did we have to take down just to get away?"

Phoebe scowled "Fine, I'll be careful."

"Thank you Phoebe and good luck."

The line went dead and she started looking over the information that Moe had given her, it still amazed her that he was able to send her the correct information that she needed no matter where he was or even if she was using a brand new computer that she had never logged into before. But that was why Moe was a person that she had gone out of her way to get in touch with, he was skilled beyond all skilled, even though he didn't have magic like others did he was still better than they were.

After printing out the information that she needed Phoebe gathered everything in a folder and picked up her messenger bag, leaving her office she walked through the halls once more, greeting various students and staff as she went until she made her way to her destination.

"Oh, Phoebe. What can I do for you?"

"Hey Jake, I need one of the kits."

"Planning a field trip?" He asked as he walked over to the metal cabinet where the school's first aid kits were stored.

"Not one of those kits Jake."

Jake stopped and looked at Phoebe.

"What are you working on Phoebe?" he pressed.

"I found someone who needs my help, and if all goes well then he could be a new student for the school, if he's old enough anyway." She added.

Jake sighed, there was a lot of that happening today.

"What kit do you need then?"

"The worst one."

"The bag with the material close to giving out, the one that I need to pay out of pocket to replace? Please say yes." He asked hopefully.

Phoebe shook her head and Jake let out a low breath.

"How bad?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I want to be ready for anything." She replied.

* * *

Selena removed the keys from the ignition and walked furiously into Gotham Botanical intent on confronting Harley and finding out why she abandoned her, she knew that there were GCPD goons around but that didn't mean that she didn't care that she'd been abandoned by Harley, she could have met up with her at the car.

Even though the Bat was there waiting for her, it would have been slightly difficult to explain but it could have worked out, there was always the chance that Harley would have been taken back to Arkham, there still was if she was honest with herself, but had they explained what had happened to the Bat then they could have at least been given a chance, he was all about chances after all.

"Harley!" Selena shouted as she slammed the door behind her.

"She's in the bed room with Harry." Ivy told her.

"He OK?"

"Yeah, he kind of freaked out when he appeared out of nowhere." Ivy replied "Harley told me what happened and then she went to see what was wrong with Harry, I thought it best to let them sort it out on their own."

Selena nodded as she took a seat at the table across from Pamela.

Still upset.

"I saw how they disappeared, it was strange to say the least." Selena said.

Ivy nodded "Yeah Harley said that it was strange."

"It was like they were swallowed by the shadows around them." Selena stated. "It would seem that Harry has some really strong gifts."

Pamela sighed and poured herself a drink of coffee, causing Selena to chuckle.

"What?"

"It's just strange."

"What is?"

Selena licked her lip "After all this time as Poison Ivy, more plant than women, I see you drinking more coffee than I ever see you drinking water. It's just strange, shouldn't you be… I don't know, unable to drink coffee?"

Ivy smiled and placed the cup on the table. "Firstly, this is for you. Secondly, Coffee grounds are often used in fertilizers and gardens all around the world, and coffee is a bean that is ground up and then has water poured over it, it's all natural."

They sat in a somewhat comfortable silence for a few minutes when Ivy suddenly tilted her head to the side, like she was hearing something just out of distance.

"What?"

"There's someone walking towards the building." She stated as she got to her feet, Selena followed.

"Anyone we need to be worried about?"

Ivy shook her head "I don't know but they don't seem to be causing any damage to the plants and they've been walking in a straight line towards us, so I couldn't say."

Selena nodded and decided that she would take a look before Ivy did anything, but she was stopped by Ivy beating her to it. Ivy breezed through the door and into the large open area that made up the vast majority of the Botanical gardens, as she had remodeled all the areas away from the gardens that were once used by the staff that once worked there into a laboratory and then into more of a living space with a separate lab when Harley began living with her.

As Ivy walked into the Main open area a large thick vine lowered itself to her allowing her to rise high above the plants and walk ways and allowing her to see everything that was around her, also allowing her to see the main entry way that the newcomer would be forced to walk through, though she was always annoyed when the Bat would just crash through the widows as it would allow the cold air inside and the plants would suffer because of it.

As the newcomer walked towards the door Ivy gave a small command to the plants near the door, opening it to allow the newcomer to walk right inside without knocking.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Ivy's seductive tones flowed through the air.

Unseen by the newcomer Selena was high above her, also using the plants that Ivy had growing throughout the borders of the building. At times it was nice to have someone that could make her a catwalk to move on unseen by others.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, I'm aware that you may not be overly fond of having visitors arrive unannounced." The newcomer began.

"Clearly." Ivy replied.

"I am looking for someone, and I believe that you may know where they are, or possibly know where someone is that could help me find them."

"And who, exactly, are you looking for?" Ivy asked, somewhat interested but she wasn't truthfully in a caring mood.

"I am looking for a young boy that I met several hours ago, I do not know his name but I know he has dark black hair, emerald eyes and is about four or five years old." The newcomer said.

"I do not know anyone like that, I've been here for days tending to my babies; they have been unattended for quite some time while I was locked away."

Selena had to hand it to Ivy, she was a really good actress.

The newcomer nodded at the response. "Then perhaps you would be able to assist me in finding someone that they boy was last seen with, Harley Quinn."

The fact that the newcomer, whom hadn't even shared its name, knew what Harry looked like, the fact that he was staying with Harley and the fact that they were here… wait, no she didn't know that, she had just come to see Ivy because it was known that Harley and she were often seen with each other, all together this was strange especially if she included the timing of everything.

"Why are you here?" Ivy asked once again.

"My name is Phoebe Halliwell, I am here on behalf of McCallum Academy, one of Gotham City's elite schools, I am here to speak to Harry because I believe that he and I wield a similar ability."

"Oh?" Ivy asked, seemingly interested "And what, exactly would that ability be?"

"The ability to perform Magic." Phoebe replied.

Ivy looked at the newcomer before her, who had walked through her garden unafraid of anything that she had come across. Though she did make a slight detour around the somewhat carnivorous Venus Flytrap that had large plantlike fangs.

"Magic, you say." Ivy replied. "How do you know that Harry has the ability to use Magic, and why would your academy be interested in him so much that you would come here, in person, and reveal the fact that there is an academy where Magical people work and live at?"

"I'm not sure if he is capable of using Magic-"

"Then _why_ come here?"

Phoebe gulped and took a step back "He displayed an ability to manipulate shadows today when and incident occurred at the Mall a few hours ago."

"I am aware of the Jokers attempted attack at the Mall." Ivy responded.

"When one of the _men_ working for the joker attempted to grab Harry, as you said his name was, I used my own magic to help him when I saw that he needed help. I spoke to him for a few moments and from what I was able to understand was that he has come from a family that seemingly had a violent reaction to the natural accidental magic that all children have.

"There are cases where a child attempts to place such strict control over their magic, in order to not have anyone know that they have magic and thus the reactions to accidental magic stop, that it impedes their health and the Magic consumes them. If nothing else I would like to ensure that he knows that there are others out in the world, like myself, like Him, that are there if he needs someone to help him. There are documented cases where a child has been consumed by their magic because they've attempted to suppress it to avoid being punished for something that they cannot control.

"I've also brought with me some simple potions and salves that will help him recover from anything that has happened to him, and even if he doesn't have the ability to use Magic McCallum has the facilities and staff members that can help him to learn, in a safe environment, how to use his abilities and control them."

Ivy said nothing for several moments, Selena, who had moved into a position where she was both able to listen in and respond to any attacks, decided that she would make herself known, thankfully she still had her cowl, since it was attached to her suit which she was still wearing.

"What, exactly, makes you think that we'll believe what you have to say just because you claim to have helped at the Mall. You could have easily been saving yourself and are now wanting to take advantage of someone like Harry because he is powerful." She asked pointedly.

"There is nothing that I can say that will make you believe me just because I say so, but I would like the chance to prove myself if that's possible. I can swear an oath, on my life and Magic, which are more binding than someone like yourself, doing the same thing."

"You mean like 'I swear to speak the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me god'?" Selena deadpanned "Please I've been in court and look at me, I'm a crook who steals from museums and rich people all the time."

Phoebe nodded, after all it had been in the information that Moe and given her.

"The oath that I will swear won't be like that, but essentially when a magical swears on their life and Magic, we are literally putting them on the line. We can lose our lives, money, soul, anything when we make an oath, so they are rarely done." Phoebe explained.

"Very well." Ivy said "Swear that you really did help Harry and that you wish to help him, right now."

Phoebe placed the bag that she was carrying on the ground and reached into her jacket and pulled out a wand.

" **I, Phoebe Jane Halliwell, do so swear on my life, and on my Magic, that I helped to protect the young boy named Harry that is under the care of Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy, and that I wish to see him healthy and safe. So I swear, so mote it be.** "

A light wave of energy rushed off Phoebe, causing both Selena and Pamela to raise an eyebrow at what they felt.

Phoebe waved her wand in a light and showy swish pronouncing a single spell " _ **Papilio**_ "

From the moving tip of her wand a dozen beautiful multicolored butterflies appeared and started flying through the air as she slipped her wand back into its original position.

"They'll vanish within a short while, but they serve their purpose I think, and they look nice amongst all the flowers." Phoebe commented.

Selena looked at Phoebe for a moment before she asked Ivy a question.

"Know anything that can do that?" She asked.

Ivy narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"I was going to ask you."

Selena nodded slowly "Alright, say we believe that Harry has magic like you do, what does that mean for us and him?"

Phoebe looked at the duo and decided that it would be better if she was honest with them, otherwise should they realize that she isn't then there was a chance that it could all backfire against her and the trio could, and more than likely would, destroy the entire academy for it.

"Truth be told there are several other things that you more than likely know, but for the most part my being here is mostly selfish." She admitted, which got a pair of raised eyebrows in response.

Phoebe sighed but pushed through.

"Within the Academy's network we are linked to several other schools throughout the country, we all share knowledge, classes, students, everything. When a magical student joins a school, such as the one in Gotham, they are also joining the various schools throughout the country. We are one of the only places in the world that do this, mostly because of how large a magical community there is within America, there are currently five schools throughout the country that we are connected to.

"As I'm sure you are thinking where there are many people there are groups that form within, some grow large and others fade away and break apart over time. I am a member of a small group that began so long ago that none of the current or former members that I've spoken to know when we began, only that it began with a single goal and we've been doing all that we could to keep that goal going."

"What was, or should I say _is_ , the goal?" Selena asked.

"To protect the Magical world from the Non-Magical and Protect the Non-Magical world from the Magical." Phoebe easily replied.

"What does that mean exactly, I can see multiple ways that that can be taken, and the first ones that I thought of were not nice." Pamela said.

"The purpose of the group, which has been dubbed Aegis-"

"After the Greek legends of a shield that was used by the Greek God Zeus, who then passed it to his daughter Athena when she was born wearing full battle armor and carrying a weapon, seeing that she had no shield he gave it to her. Eons later she loaned it to the son of Zeus, Perseus, who used it when he fought against Medusa, a monster so powerful that she was able to turn anything that looked at her to stone. The head was supposedly placed into the shield, or used as a model for the shield as some stories say, the shield was so strong that no weapon was able to break through it thus beginning a legend that anyone who wielded the shield was invincible causing people to flee at the sight of it." Selena rattled off.

She realized that she was babbling when she saw Pamela and Phoebe looking at her.

"What? I have a Masters in History." She defended.

Phoebe cleared her throat. "Well you're not wrong about the stories behind the name, they were the supposedly the reason why the name was chosen. Since it was the shield of those who had Knowledge and Power, respectively, the founder thought that those who had both the Power and the Knowledge to protect both Magical and Non-Magical people from danger that they aren't ready for, should do so."

"Protect them from what danger?" Selena asked.

"Any danger that they pose to each other, with the hope that, one day, both communities would come together naturally and on their own, with as few issues as possible." Phoebe replied.

"Sounds like an admirable goal." Pamela commented.

Phoebe nodded. "It was why I joined, I thought that it was a goal that I could see myself assisting in. That was roughly fifteen years ago and I now work with a team doing all that we can to protect the people of Gotham from any fallout from Magical fights or the fights between yourselves and Batman."

Ivy awkwardly cleared her throat and looked somewhat abashed at the revelation, even though it was true that she had very little concern with human life before Harley came into her life and Selena shortly followed, then Harry followed recently.

"Don't worry." Phoebe smiled softly "After the first super villains started showing up we began to teach all students hand to hand combat, we stepped up our defense curriculum to include basic warding, low level defensive spells that they were able to use against regular thugs and low lives, the regular people that they would face.

"The academy stepped up from a Theoretical focus to a Practical focus, after which students started to take it into their own hands to improve their chances to survival within the city. It soon became evident that all students were studying enchantments and spells that they were able to apply to their uniforms, there was an increase in students learning wandless magic that they were able to utilize without drawing their wands, giving them an edge when outside of the school."

"Wandless magic?" Selena and Pamela asked simultaneously.

Phoebe drew her wand once more, holding it out to show them.

"This is my wand, if Harry is magical like I believe he is then he will also receive a wand." Phoebe explained. "A wand is a witch or wizard's way of focusing magic, it's not the only way to do so. Wandless magic is tougher to perform only because it requires a magical to focus their magic on their own instead of the wand doing it for them.

"Wands are the default focus for many Magical people, but there are some that are unable to utilize wand Magic, before we found other ways of using magic these people were known as Squibs, sadly they were commonly abandoned by their families because wand magic is the only magic that the country knows how to use and so they believe that their child is unable to perform magic.

"In some parts of the world; Australia, Japan, India and Brazil, families with Squibs remained with the family, even though they were unable to perform magic, these countries focus on Wand magic but they do have other forms of magic that they are able to learn, though wand magic is a large part of their community.

"Wandless magic is limited in its application, being that it can only really perform basic actions. Push, pull, lift, lower, similar to low level telekinesis. But even though it is limited it is still something that the students learnt to use in order to defend themselves. Even someone who has a decent understanding of wandless magic can fling someone back several meters, enough to scare a few petty thugs."

Phoebe explained some of the basics to Pamela and Selena about how the academy is run, how it is both boarding school and regular school in one. That while students were able to live at the academy they were not required to do so, but some found that it was easier because they would have access to the facilities and knowledge that the school had to complete their assignments and to work on personal projects.

While they were talking Harley and Harry had both woken up from the nap that they had been taking together. Harley had lain down with Harry and soothed him since he was recovering from the unplanned excitement that they had at the mall.

"Heya Red! You around?" Harley called out as she carried a drowsy Harry in her arms.

"We're in here Harley." Ivy called out.

"We're?" Harley questioned as she walked towards the source of Ivy's voice.

When Harley walked into the makeshift dining room she was greeted with the sight of Ivy and Selena talking to some random woman that she's never seen before.

"What's all this then? Who're you?" She questioned.

Ivy was the first to speak.

"Harley calm down, she's here because she wants to help."

"Help? Help who?"

"Harry." Selena stated, this got her attention.

Harry yawned, still slightly drowsy from being woken up a short while ago, the three women smiled when they saw him burrow himself deeper into Harley's body, his arms wrapping around her neck and his face pressing deeper into her neck, searching for warmth.

"He's still tired?" Ivy asked.

Harley nodded as she carefully maneuvered herself into a chair, attempting to do so without bothering Harry.

"So what's your name lady?" Harley asked.

"Phoebe Halliwell, I'm from McCallum Academy." She replied.

"That big fancy school with all the security guards?" Harley asked.

Phoebe nodded "That's right, I was also at the mall today, Harry's vanishing act caught my attention."

"Really?" She asked carefully.

"Don't worry, I don't want to take Harry away from you. At McCallum we teach people like Harry, and those that hold other gifts, how to use them. I've met three people with Harry's abilities, the ability to manipulate shadows, two of them had weak talents with it, but there was one that was able to do the same thing that Harry did at the mall today."

"Really?" Harley asked "Because I was in the middle of it and I don't even understand what happened."

Phoebe shrugged "I've only experienced it a few times myself, but the person I am talking about teaches at McCallum from time to time, they're a little odd but know their stuff."

Ivy, Selena and Harley looked at each other, they all seemed to want to ask the same question.

"So what kind of thing can he do?" Selena asked, seemingly being the one to speak for the trio.

Phoebe thought for a moment, she weighed up her options, knowing that there was only so much that she could say, being that she didn't really know everything that someone that could manipulate shadows, and that she was talking to known criminals.

"To tell you the truth, from what I know there's so many things that someone like that could do that I don't even know. Elementals, people that can control the elements like Harry can, guard their knowledge almost religiously.

"I myself am able to use elemental magic, I can control wind and a small amount of Ice, it's not my main focus of magic but it's still one that I can use. The man that I learnt how to control Ice from, made every perspective that went to see him survive a month in freezing cold environment. I did it and when he told me that I passed he asked me what I learnt from it, he said that it was a test, hated him for it until he told me what he was testing me on.

"His test was not just for him to see who was worth his time teaching, it was so we could learn how strong we were, how far we would go to survive in the cold, but it was also so we could understand just how powerful an element we were attempting to learn. Ice Magic is as beautiful as it is deadly.

"Each master of an element has varying levels of control and various ways to use the element. Some people, like myself, learn to use multiple elements so they always have something to use when they need, others learn to control a single element until they master it and all that it can do.

"There are not as many young witches and wizards that choose to learn how to become elementals, mostly choosing to follow different pathways while still utilizing their wand magic. In response to that McCallum added several new branches of magic and branched out wide, which spurred the creation of multiple academies throughout the country.

"The school in Gotham offers courses in all kinds of fields but specializes in TechnoMagic, which is the combination and use of Magic through technology, as I mentioned earlier there are people, referred to as Squibs, that are unable to use Wands and, by extension, wandless magic, I brought it up to Miss Ivy, and Miss… Catwoman" Phoebe never received a different name to call her.

"…About Squibs before… uh… Anyway, a while ago a group of squibs and other magic users got together and decided that there had to be another way that people were going to be able to use magic, especially in the current environment where technology is everywhere.

"For the most part Magic and technology _do not mix_ , wand magic completely destroys any Non-Magical technology, and for other areas such as Voodoo, spiritualists, shamans and druids, being some of the most prominent magic users throughout the world find that their magic is hampered by the technology that surrounds them. After a while they looked into what kinds of metals and materials worked best with magic, even in their natural state.

"It was surmised, and then it was proven, that plastic or other materials that are not naturally found in nature do not work well with magic as they aren't natural to nature. Plastic and things that are made from chemicals are, by nature, unable to channel magic. The magic that is focus through it dies and the plastic breaks apart. But metal and alloys of it, are found within nature and as magic is found throughout nature metal is able to have magic flowing through it.

"It was this revelation and then the work of squibs that had experience with engineering and other trades like that, working together to make something that someone was able to focus and channel magic through, it then evolved to a level where they began to have non-magical items, like phones and computers working within a magical environment, after that there was an invention known as the CAD, or Casting Assistant Device, that allowed pre-programed spells to be used.

"It is a new system of magic but at the same time it is very powerful and unique to its user. With every different user using magic in different ways, even the same spells that are shared around the use of them differs greatly. We also teach regular academics, like you would find in any other school throughout the world. Math, English, science, and the like." Phoebe explained.

Selena and Pamela were a little overwhelmed with what they were being told, they didn't really understand what was being told but they did understand that there was a place being offered to Harry, and through him they were being offered a place within a whole new community.

Harry belonged to this world and there was nothing that they were able to do to keep him from it, from what they were able to gather there would be nothing stopping them from doing anything they wanted to take Harry from them, should that be what they want.

"Can I still stay with Miss Ivy and Miss Quinn?" A quiet voice broke through the tense silence.

All eyes looked to the now clearly awake Harry that was shyly holding onto Harley, not wanting to let go of her.

Phoebe smiled softly at him.

"No one is going to make you stay anywhere you don't want to Harry." She replied.

Harley squeezed Harry softly with her arms "And no one is going to take you from me, no matter what."

Conversation carried on for a while and after acquiring another oath, just to be on the safe side, Selena removed her cowl, after realizing that she felt odd wearing her costume when they were having a long conversation that could clearly carry on for some time longer, she asked for the oath because she didn't want to have her identity leaked by mistake.

Phoebe brought up the fact that for the enrollment to be completed Harry would need to have some form of documentation that would be acceptable within both the Magical world and the Non-Magical world, which lead to the revelation of where Harry had been living, the suburb of Surry, England with the Dursley family and Harry's last name, Potter, Phoebe's greatest surprise of the conversation.

"What's so shocking about Harry's last name?" Harley asked.

Phoebe cleared her throat in an attempt to regain her composure.

"The shocking thing about it, isn't that it's Harry's last name, but to whom else the name belongs to. There are many people throughout the world who may have the name Potter, but not within the Magical world, or from England.

"There is only one family with the name Potter within the Magical community of England and that is The Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Potter, one of the few remaining Ancient Houses within the English Magical Community. If Harry is really connected to the Potter family, then this is both very good for him and very bad for him." She replied.

"How so?" Ivy asked as she watched Harry shrink into Harley's embrace.

Phoebe sighed "The first thing that I should explain is that the Potter family is very well known, and it always has been, having gained its reputation within a few generations after the destruction of Pompeii, though it became more widely known, on something of an international level, because of what happened around the time that Harry was born.

"The English magical community, and by extension the entire European magical community was also rife with war and conflict. But that all changed one day, specifically on October 31st 1981, that was the day that the Dark Lord was defeated by Harry's brother, Jacob Potter."

"I have a brother?" Harry asked, clearly shocked about hearing that he had family other than the Dursley's.

Phoebe nodded sadly "Yes, as well as Parents. But I'm not sure why you would be living with you Aunt if your parents were alive and you had magic, which I'm sure that you do."

"We can get to that after, but for now I want to hear about what happened on Halloween." Selena cut in, knowing that it would be important for them to know now instead of later.

"Well, from what I've been told from Aegis and the reports that I've read about it, the Dark Lord, who went by the false moniker Lord Voldemort, found where the Potter family were living, as they were in hiding at the time, and attacked Harry and Jacob when they were home with a friend of the family, his parents had been out at the time but records never said where.

"The next thing that anyone knew the wards went off and Harry and Jacob were discovered in their nursery, the war was declared over with Jacob Potter being the one responsible for the destruction of the Dark Lord, thus being the one known to have ended the war, after which he was dubbed 'The Boy-Who-Lived'." She explained.

Ivy was next to speak during the tense moment that followed.

"So it seems like the reason is somewhat easy to gather, or at least there is enough to speculate on. When Harry's brother was declared the hero, the entire community focused on that while Harry seemed to fade into the woodwork, eventually he was left with his aunt, the mothers sister, where he was then abused to the point that he somehow appeared here in Gotham where Harley and I found him suffering from Hypothermia."

Phoebe nodded, though there wasn't that much else she could really do when presented with the facts summarized like that.

"This also brings me to the second reason that I am here, after revealing that Harry has an invitation to McCallum academy." Phoebe commented as she reached down and lifted the bag that she had brought with her onto the table.

"Within this kit I've brought some potions and salves that will help Harry to recover from anything that he is currently suffering from, though I don't think that this will cover everything, but at least it will give us a place to begin."

Phoebe pulled out several basic healing potions that she knew that Harry would need.

Skele-grow; to strengthen and help the bones throughout his body grow to their proper size. Used in small amounts so as to allow the bones to grow slowly and at a more natural rate.

Wound-Cleaning Potion; to clean wounds and prevent infection of injuries, smokes and stings on contact as it kills any infectious material or dirt that may get into the wounds. While it is a potion it is not drunk as other potions normally are. Used in small amounts over the carving on his back to remove the remaining sickly puss and blackened skin, is a powerful antiseptic.

Burn-Healing Paste; to heal the burns and the Branding on Harry's chest, is a thick paste that is applied liberally onto an area instead of a potion that is drunk. Speeds up the natural healing of the body while constantly applying moisture to the afflicted area, reducing the chance of scaring.

Concentrated Nutrient Potion; A potion containing large amounts of six concentrated essential nutrients and important vitamins.  
 _Carbohydrates_ ; The main source of energy for the brain, as without them the body is unable to function properly.  
 _Protein_ ; a major structural component for the cells that make up the body, is responsible for the building and repair of body tissue.  
 _Fat_ ; another source of energy for the body that when consumed increases the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.  
 _Vitamins_ ; Vitamin C plays a necessary part for the synthesis of collagen, which provides structure for bone, blood vessels and ligaments, finally vitamin D which helps to maintain calcium homeostasis.  
 _Minerals_ ; Sodium and Potassium, which help to maintain fluid volume inside and outside of cells, potassium preventing the rise of blood pressure with increased sodium intake.  
 _Calcium_ , to maintain and build strong bones and teeth.

Scar-Healing paste; applied on the areas around some of the older injuries that were suffered allowing most to fade away while few others remained as fine white lines that would fade as his skin naturally darkened or he tanned.

There were more potions in the bag that were designed for more serious injuries, there were also bandages and dressings that could be used but Phoebe wasn't a trained Healer, or a doctor, she knew how to apply the basic potions and had some past knowledge on the other potions that she had given to others and had taken herself.

* * *

 **I hope that people like how detailed I have attempted to make things, and that my explanations about different squibs and those that can use TechnoMagic, which will come into play as one of Harry's magics.**

 **Still looking for names and pairing recommendations.**

 **Current ideas/suggestions:  
Magus - _Phantomsoul2015  
_ Crow - _Death444_  
Ghost (will be relevant if chosen {will take on a Similar look to Ghost rider} using Diablo's power)  
Grimoire  
Sorcerer  
Sage  
Rider  
Priest (actually a personal favourite)**

 **Give me your suggestions!**

 **Sidenote: I am currently tossing up an idea about Harry meeting Dialbo, Chato Santana, at some point. I'm not completely sure about how or why he receives the power but there will be some practical use of the power throughout the story if he does. Feel free to give your thoughts on the idea.**


	5. Chapter 4

Harry has been living with Harley and Ivy for a few weeks now, he'd come to love helping Ivy with the garden, or her babies as she'd called them while from time to time, he enjoyed learning about all the different plants that she was able to grow and true to her word Harry had been eating a large amount of fruit and nuts throughout the days whenever he was feeling hungry. Harley had taken to teaching Harry some of the different things that she knew, mostly being gymnastics as he was too young to understand anything that she was talking about in regards to psychology, but he'd spent several hours listening to her talk because he was sitting on her lap while she was cuddling him and talking, thankfully she didn't mind when he'd accidentally fallen asleep and she'd been talking to herself for a while.

Selena was a frequent visitor to Ivy's botanical gardens over the last few weeks, she claimed it was mostly because she was worried that Harley would do something to endanger Harry while she wasn't there.

They all knew that it wasn't true as Harley had practically adopted him ever since she'd found him that night in the snow. Even Phoebe had noticed how much she paid attention to Harry, making sure that she was always close by in the middle of the night to be ready in case he had a nightmare, which was frequent.

After Harry's first nightmare the group of four spoke once again, though Harry was not present during the conversation.

"We didn't even realize what was going on." Harley said solemnly. "The only way that I knew what was happening was because I'd decided to check in on him while getting a glass of water."

Ivy wrapped Harley in a hug in order to comfort her.

"It just goes to show how much damage they really did to him, even if he himself doesn't realize it." Selena bit out angrily.

"From what you're describing it's almost like they were conditioning him to be quiet, so much so that without thinking about it or even being aware, he'd always do things quietly as to not interrupt others." Phoebe commented.

"That would be close to accurate, even when he's helping with my babies he is always quiet. Only asking for help with things that he knows he cannot do by himself, he's practically invisible, almost to the level that I have to actively look for him even when he's working right next to me." Ivy replied. "It's actually pretty strange."

Harley cut in next.

"He's not showing any signs of PTSD, we haven't seen him have any Panic attacks, Depression won't really be clear for a while, if ever, I haven't noticed any signs of DID, Bipolar, Schizophrenia or personality disorders. He doesn't each much at Dinner but he will eat nuts and fruit throughout the day so I don't think he's developed an eating disorder; I just think he's not used to eating large meals.

"But the main thing I'm worried about is Dissociation, both emotionally and physically. But there's no real way to recognize it at the moment, the best thing to do is just wait it out and let him know that we're there to help him. But if we crowd him about it then I don't think he'll react the way we'd hope, at the moment he's just getting used to being able to choose what to do throughout the day without having to do chores all the time."

There was a tense silence as Harley finished speaking.

This was one of the rare times that the actual intelligent Harley comes out to reveal herself, the Harleen that was before Harley, the Psychologist that she was before the Career Criminal.

They took what she had told them to heart and made sure that Harry knew that he wasn't alone with anything that he was dealing with, or if he wanted to talk. Ivy kept teaching him about plants while Harley taught him some Gymnastics, Selena helped him with some physical training, helping him with a fitness regime, and Phoebe came over every few days that she had a chance to talk to Harry, speaking to him about the academy, about Magic and other things in general.

Harry seemed to brighten up when they spoke about Magic, Phoebe believed that it was because he'd always known that it was a part of him and his relatives, they were not family, had attempted to keep that from him, so being able to talk about it openly and acceptably was something he was relieved about.

The best thing that he figured was that he was scheduled for a medical exam with a healer at Gotham Magical, the portion of Gotham General Hospital that catered to the Magical citizens of Gotham and surrounding areas, sharing a large general staff with the smaller Metropolis Magic Medical center. This would begin Harry's recovery and would allow him to move on with his life.

* * *

Phoebe lead Selena and Harry through Gotham Magical heading to meet with Deputy Head Healer Kayden.

"Are you sure that the doctor will be discrete?" Selena asked.

"Yes, the healer will be very discrete, she handles several cases like this, well… not like this exactly but you know what I mean, there will be no chance for her to reveal anything, she will also sign a confidentiality contract, which is magically enforced." Phoebe informed her.

Selena wasn't too happy about it, but if the contract worked the way that she was told and she believed it did, then she was happy that this wouldn't be shared far especially if Harry was really related to someone so well known in England then when they realize that Harry has vanished from wherever they had put him then they would start looking around. There was one thing that Selena knew, if someone wanted to find Harry then one of the first things that they would look at would be financials, so they would need to ensure that they were careful, because if they couldn't find anything in financials then they would look into where he lived, when they found what happened to him they would look into medical records, that would lead them to Gotham.

"I want to look over the contract before she signs it, if nothing else to make sure that Harry will be protected and that she can't share it as she pleases."

Phoebe knew that there was nothing she could say or do to change her mind and decided that she'd just leave it up to Healer Kayden.

They walked in silence for a few moments before they arrived at a nurse's station.

"Hi, we have an appointment with Deputy Head Healer Kayden," Phoebe spoke to the Nurse at the station.

"Alright, Healer Kayden is in his office. We'll get him for you so take a seat in the waiting room and he'll be with you in a moment." She replied.

The small group sat in the waiting room and waited for the Healer to arrive, fortunately, they weren't waiting long until another Nurse arrived and escorted the group into Kayden's office.

"Phoebe." Kayden greeted her with open arms.

"Kay." Phoebe hugged the healer.

"How've you been?"

"Not bad, the school's going good, especially after you got the Healing classes outfitted with some of the old training materials that the Hospital had replaced." Phoebe smiled.

"It was the least that I could do for the school, without it I'd have nothing." Kayden replied as he took his seat.

"That's a load of bull, and you know it." Phoebe retorted as she took her seat.

"Well, we can catch up later, how about we get started examining our young patient." Kayden stated as he turned to look at the young man that was hiding nervously behind another woman.

Kayden smiled warmly at Harry.

"Hi there young one, I'm Healer Kayden. I'm an old friend of Miss Halliwell here, we actually went to the same school, do you know what school I'm talking about?" He asked.

"McCallum Academy." Harry said meekly.

Kayden nodded "That's right. Has she been trying to rope you into attending?"

Harry smiled and nodded, still hiding behind Selena but clearly more at ease with the healer.

Kayden chuckled. "She does that a lot, but that's a good thing. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because McCallum is a place where people like you and me, can learn all about magic and everything that we love. Do you want to know why I became a Healer?"

Harry shook his head.

"Well I didn't always want to be a healer, at first I went to McCallum and I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I had friends just like me, and Phoebe was one of them, while I was there I learned all sorts of spells. One day my friends and I were in our Potions class and someone made a mistake, the potion that they were making caused the cauldron to explode." Kayden mimed an explosion and inwardly smiled as Harry's eyes widened.

"The student was alright, but some of the cauldron pieces were sent flying through the air and hurt Phoebe."

He heard Harry gasp and look at Phoebe as if to confirm that she was alright, Phoebe just smiled and nodded in confirmation.

"At the time I knew a few spells that I could use, I healed some of the cuts and bruises that she'd gotten but there was a piece of metal, about two inches long, stuck in her shoulder, I used a spell that I'd learnt to stop drink spills to stop the blood in her shoulder from escaping. When we got her to the School Healer and she was all patched up the healer told me that the spell I used saved her life.

"The next day I asked if I could enroll into a basic healing class, I guess it would be akin, similar, to a first aid class in a Non-Magical school, the teacher saw that I had a talent for healing and offered me a chance to learn from her. All of that lead me here to where I am today." He finished.

Phoebe, Kayden, and Selena all looked at Harry who was clearly gobsmacked that something like that had happened, but they could all see the look of amazement and interest that he had.

"Alright Harry, how about you sit up on the bed over here for me and we can get started." Kayden offered.

"Hang on a second." Selena cut in.

"Something wrong Miss…?"

"Kyle, Selena Kyle. Acting Guardian for Harry, I'm sure that Phoebe has told you some of what has happened to Harry, but I want to ensure that this will not be shared around."

Kayden nodded and wheeled back towards his desk and pulled a sheet of paper out of the draw and looked it over, reaching for the fountain pen that was sitting on his desk.

"If that's the confidentiality agreement I want to look at it first." Selena cut in before he could sign.

"Sure thing." He said as he handed the paper over to Selena.

As soon as she was handed the paper she realized that it had a strange feel to it. As if knowing what she was thinking Kayden spoke.

"That's not normal paper, as you probably realize. It's actually Parchment."

Selena raised an eyebrow "Why use something so old instead of paper, it would be cheaper, wouldn't it?"

Kayden chuckled.

"You'd be surprised just how often that question is asked, I asked it myself when I was in school. What I was told, and looked into further, revealed the closest answer anyone has been able to get. Paper is made from wood, as everyone knows, but it's within the process of cleaning the paper, the process of changing it from wood, to kindling, to a pulp, to whatever they call the waterlogged mess that paper comes from, that ruin the magic that is naturally within the wood itself.

"Everything in the world has magic, from the ground, the trees, rocks, stones, plants, animals, water, the air, and all people. But things like chemicals and those made from them are unable to hold magic, or can only do so for a limited amount of time, even in the magic contained within the ink used would fade faster than if used on anything else.

"Parchment has been made and used for centuries, and because it's made completely out of animal skin it has the ability to hold magic in it. I know that Parchment has been treated with chemicals, such as lime, for example, but Lime is found in nature and only used to treat the skin. Even though we call it parchment it's still animal hide. Which is why we use it for things like contracts instead of regular paper."

Selena blinked as she processed the information.

"That's… informative."

Kayden chuckled.

"That was a similar response to what I had as well."

Without saying anything Selena looked over the contract with a careful eye, weighing up the different statements and contracts within before she placed it back on the table, but not sliding it over.

"This contract says that you may be forced to reveal information about a client's personal information when approached by an officer of the law, that doesn't sit right with me. This is too open for someone to take advantage of." Selena stated.

Kayden blinked, taken back by her tone of voice, he looked at Phoebe for some sign of support, but she was no help.

"Is there any way that this can be changed?" Selena asked.

Kayden scratched his chin.

"That depends, how do you want this changed?"

Selena pointed to the article that she had mentioned.

"Where this says 'When approached by an officer of the law.' I want this to read 'When approached by an officer of the law, bearing a subpoena issued by a court of Law.' Is that possible?"

Kayden breathed out a deep breath and took back the form.

"In this case, I believe that I have given you the wrong form." He replied as he retrieved a different document, this one being a roll of parchment instead of a single sheet. "This one should be more your liking."

Selena read the document twice over before nodding and allowing Kayden to sign it, before doing the same.

Once the document was signed there was a flash of light and two rolls of parchment with a sapphire blue ribbon tied around them were there in its place.

Kayden picked one up and handed it to Selena.

"For your own records." He said as she took it.

She nodded as Harry took a seat on the examination table allowing Kayden to begin examining Harry.

He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose when he removed the fabric square that was taped to Harry's chest covering the moderately healed Holy Cross branding, other than that there was only a professional Healer doing his job and examining his patient.

* * *

Kayden finished Harry's examinations, taken several blood samples, taken him for X-rays, CAT scan, and even an optometrist, after doing some tests within the room Harry was taken to the Non-Magical portion of the Hospital to the physiotherapy wing where he was asked to do several tests with a physiotherapist who was also a Witch working in the hospital.

She handed Kayden a form that she had filled out with the results from Harry's examinations, Harry, Selena and Phoebe were all sent to get something to eat while Kayden processed the results and entered it all into the system as a new entry, since he had never been placed into any medical record that he could find, not even the Non-Magical one.

It happened from time to time, especially with families that had long histories of Witches and Wizards, in more _outdated_ countries and communities they were also called Purebloods, they chose to be born inside their Family Wards, as some family Magicks required a child to be born within the families Ancestral Homes where they then underwent rituals that were required within the families' custom.

Kayden was filling in the information that he received from Selena Kyle and from the examination of young Harry, but something was eating at him, something odd. He pulled out the results of the CAT scan and looked them over once more, checking to see if there was something that he missed. He looked over the scan results, tracing it with his finger looking, knowing that there was something wrong with it. But he couldn't see it.

It pissed him off.

He reached over and picked up the phone receiver entering in the extension number for the food court.

"Hi, there's three people sitting in the food court, they have a young boy, black hair, skinny, emerald green eyes, sitting with two young women, one wearing a yellow blouse and blue jeans, the third light brown hair wearing a pink top and black pants, do you see them?"

He waited for the response.

"Yeah, can you please tell the lady with the pink top, that Kayden needs to speak with them, all three."

He listened to the person on the other end.

"Yes that's right, they know where I am. Thank you very much."

* * *

Kayden had a sour look on his face when the trio arrived back in his office.

"I don't know what you've brought me Phoebe, but there's something off here and It's driving me nuts." He finished with a growl, showing just how annoyed he was.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't know, and that's the issue." He said. "I've looked over the tests that Harry took and there's something either there, or not there, that I cannot see and that's the issue. It all looks normal but there's something that I can't shake, and it's telling me that there's something not right with what I'm seeing."

This confused them all.

"Explain it as best you can…" Phoebe offered.

"From what I can see the only thing that's bugging the hell out of me is this CAT scan. I've worked out everything that's wrong with Harry, other than what the scan shows, we'll get the results from the Blood work in a day or two which will show us if there's anything else that we've missed or that we need to address.

"After that, there's only one thing that I am going to have to do and that makes Harry a new file, which I need to do because Harry was never entered into the Non-Magical Database, which will make it hard for him to do anything since he technically does not exist in any government database.

"I can get the information logged into the system since we've had issues like this in the past, though normally this is addressed sooner because of the regular shots that all children need to receive, which Harry will need to have today. But from everything that I've seen here, this gives us an opportunity to log everything and have Harry registered into your custody, Miss Kyle."

Selena blinked. "My custody?"

Kayden nodded. "I know why you're here, I can tell because these are the only times that Phoebe comes to see me here, other times we meet for a drink or something else. We can register Harry here under his real name and log everything that I've found, which will mean that we can get the police involved and have the people that have done this brought to justice.

"At the same time, we can create a file for Harry but under a different name, specifically under your name." He pointed to Selena "Since we can backdate the entries we can make it all fit into place, either you gave birth to him, adopted him, he's your nephew, cousin, whatever. We can have it set up as long as the information that we enter into the system is correct enough to look real without having people actually there to confirm it.

"Realistically I'd say it would be easy if we listed Harry as your son, father unknown, it would raise a question or two if he was adopted but we can note that he was a homeless kid that you gave a meal after he stopped a mugging or the like and you didn't have the heart to send him back out on the street, regardless if he's staying with you or not, or you're only here because whomever Harry is staying with now isn't able to come here or knows about Magic, it doesn't matter. We can set him up with a whole new identity."

Phoebe looked a little-shocked hearing this, Kayden would never have done this for anyone else, ever.

There was something really strange going on if he was going this far for Harry, not that she wanted him to go back and live with the people that hurt him so much. She wouldn't wish that on even her worst enemy, and there were several of those that she'd be more than happy to see out of her life. But this was just strange, to say the least.

Selena was stunned, she didn't know that such a thing was even possible to do. If they were able to give Harry two identities, one for Harry Potter, abused runaway that found his way to Gotham, somehow, that someone had plucked out of the snow and saw to it that he had a warm place for the night only to realize that he was hurt and took him to the hospital; and a second identity as Harry 'Whatever', a child with a future that was all his own, with no one to tell him what pathway to take, Harley would let him do anything apparently, while Ivy and herself would teach him things but would ultimately support him however he chose to live his life.

The things that she'd seen today were beyond consideration if even half the things he was saying were possible then there would be nothing that they, the magical communities throughout the world, could not do. Did they actually control the Non-Magical Government without anyone knowing?

Harry hadn't really known what was going on, but he understood the gist of it. He wouldn't be going back to the Dursley's no matter what, the Doctor – no _Healer_ he's not a doctor he'd told Harry, the healer had recorded everything that he had seen, he'd taken special interest at the branding and the carving into Harry's back, having photographed everything and received copies of all the scans that he had taken today. He wouldn't have to go back to _them_ anymore, he would hopefully be able to stay with Misses Harley, Ivy and Selena, he'd even be able to learn Magic.

Selena looked at Harry and came to her decision.

"Ok, make him the two identities, he's my friend's kid that she felt she was unable to care for, he wasn't born in a hospital since she was a naturalist and had a home birth. His original name is Harrison James Quinzel, but we changed it to Harrison James Kyle, for obvious reasons." She commented offhandedly when she saw Kayden's owlish gaze.

A single challenging glare from Selena saw him snapped back to attention and scribbling notes down on a note pad as to what she wanted his new identity to be.

"He lives with me as his guardian, but his mother is still in his life. He lives with myself and I am his emergency contact, after his mother because she is still his parent, Harry splits his home life between staying with myself and his mother when she's available…"

Selena started painting a backstory for Harry listing his father as someone that Harley had met during the time that she'd not been seen in Gotham, it was about the right time for it, in a general sense anyway. The father was ultimately left as Unknown, he was listed as living with Selena at her apartment, Selena told Harry that he was still going to stay with Harley and Ivy but this was so if anything happened to him then he would be brought to stay with her, Harry said that he was happy that she had given him her last name as he hugged her tightly. His DOB wasn't changed but they entered a random time as they didn't know the correct information. There were still some blanks in the information that they had put but it was enough that Harry would be able to attend school or go to a normal hospital or doctor. That was what mattered.

Then came the harder part; they started filling in the information for Harry _Potter_ , Kayden had required to perform an identification ritual as to determine the information that he needed to enter, as was standard for cases like this, normally anyway.

 _Name:_ Harrison (Harry) James Potter  
 _Date of Birth:_ 31st July 1994  
 _Parents:_  
 _Father:_ James Charlus Potter (Alive) _  
Mother:_ Lillian Jane Potter nee Evans (Alive) _  
Siblings:_ Jacob Ryan Potter (Younger Brother, Alive) _  
Paternal Grandparents:_ Lord Charlus Johnathan Potter (Deceased – October 31st, 1989) Lady Dorea Grace Potter Nee Black (Alive) _  
Maternal Grandparents:_ Ryan Lucas Evans (Deceased – May 1984) Rose Alicia Evans Nee Black (Deceased – April 1985)

Kayden entered the information into the system and listed all the injuries that he'd seen and logged into his medical report, listing that Selena Kyle, with her permission, of course, rescued Harry from freezing in the middle of the night but being unable to stay in England another night brought Harry to Gotham where he received medical attention as soon as they arrived in the city.

Selena looked over the parchment in curiosity, she was intrigued at what could happen with a few drops of blood and a special quill, another object that was still used because it was once a part of a living creature thus having the ability to hold magic within itself.

"Alright, we've sorted out his identity and I'll have an alert issued with both forms of law enforcement, specifically the integration office since they handle issues that are relevant from both sides of the veil."

"Veil?" Selena asked.

"A simple way of describing the separation between the Magical and Non-Magical world, a veil keeping the Normal, or Non-Magical, world from seeing the magical world, thus protecting both from each other by not letting them see it." Phoebe explained.

Selena nodded since it did seem like a good description too her.

"There will be someone who will contact you in a few days, maybe a week at the longest, but I don't think it will be too long since Harry will be considered a High profile case because of his family, they will have a copy of my report, but they won't have the full information that I have, so you will need to give them the copy that I will give you.

"This is only because of the contract that you had me sign." He pointed out. "Since they are technically a member of Law enforcement and won't have anything like a warrant or a subpoena or anything of the sort, anyway when they speak to you they will ask you about where you found Harry, so Harley will need to be there with you. After they look through the report they will ask questions, of both Harry and yourself, they are bound by oaths while they perform their evaluations and if all goes well then we will see those _monsters_ locked away for good."

* * *

Kayden was right, the investigators called the next afternoon and they had an appointment to meet Harry and Harley the next day, though Selena organized it so they arrived at Selena's apartment where they would swear their oaths before they were taken to Harry and Harley's location at the Botanical Gardens where Ivy would also be involved in the interview as she was there the day that Harry was found.

They were reluctant but she was able to convince them by showing them two of the photo's she took off Harry's torso, one of his chest and another of his back, they said nothing but looked at each other, then without another word they both drew their wands and swore their oaths.

When she was satisfied with their oaths she drove them both to the Botanical Gardens, though Ivy wasn't happy that she was driving through the park she understood that it would be better in the long run so she took to giving Selena a scathing glare when she showed the two agents into the living space.

Selena didn't react in anyway other than to roll her eyes at Ivy's glare.

"Alright, I think that it would be better for all of us to just put aside all the posturing and ego that we all seem to have, let's remember why we are here." The female agent stated diplomatically.

This seemed to stop all the arrogance that was being silently thrown around, since the Male agent had arrived it was clear that he was the senior agent in charge simply by the way that he walked into the room. His sneer was shown clear on his face, the disdain for Ivy's attire was only outdone by the lecherous look in his eye when he stared at Ivy and Harley respectfully.

It was without warning that Harry's control over shadows reacted and the male agent was ensnared by shadows and vanished from where he stood, it was similar to the way that Harley and Harry vanished from the mall, though instead of being wrapped by the shadows it seemed more like tendrils of shadows surging forward and wrapping around the man, he was barely able to let out a swear before the shadows enveloped him and he was gone.

"Where did-?" the female agent questioned.

"Harry?" Harley called out in a questioning tone, knowing that it was him.

"Sorry." Came the meek voice from one of the corners within the room.

All eyes turned to where the voice had come from, as they turned to look at him Harry carefully stepped out from the shadows that obscured him.

"I didn't like the way that he looked at Miss Ivy and Harley." He said somewhat defiantly as if he needed to convince himself more than anyone else. "So I wanted him gone."

"Well, we might at least have a decent conversation now." The female agent stated. "He may be my boss, but that doesn't mean that I have to like the horrible, arrogant, pain in the neck."

Selena nodded, understanding how she must feel, having been in that position herself many times.

"Then, in that case, why don't you tell us your name and we can begin with everything that we have to do so Harry can put all of this behind him and begin living his life." Selena stated.

"Right." The female agent agreed as they all took their seats, Harry choosing to sit close to Ivy who was seated with Selena closest to the agent and Harley seated on the other side.

The agent pulled out a small dull grey orb and placed it on the table, she touched her wand to the top of it and then placed a notepad and quill on the table, wavering her wand over it, they watched as the notepad and quill lifted into the air, the quill moved into a writing position.

"Agent McKenzie, Julia McKenzie. Second in command under Agent Carlyle Jones, he was removed from the location by…"

The quill had started scribbling down the words that she was speaking, it stopped when she finished speaking and looked at Harry for a moment before continuing.

"Unforeseen circumstances." She stated, which the quill wrote out while offering Harry a small smile.

"Continuing with the investigation of the abuse of a magical minor, one Harrison James Potter. The present company involved includes; Selena Kyle, acting guardian of Harrison, Harleen Quinzel, acting guardian of Harrison, and Pamela Isley, acting guardian of Harrison.

"Medical Report submitted by the Deputy Head Healer of Gotham Magical, Kayden Adams, who is unable to attend today's meeting, a separate meeting has been scheduled to be held within the week. Beginning the interview.

"Miss Ivy and Miss Quinzel, can you please describe the night in which young Harrison was found, as I believe you were the pair listed as having found him first."

"That's correct." Ivy began. "We had been walking through the park during the night together, enjoying the moonlight when Harley heard something, we stopped and listened thinking that it was someone else walking through the park or a mugger, but Harley heard that it was someone that needed help so we rushed forward to where we found Harry, or Harrison as you said his full name was.

"He fell over and Harley was quick enough to catch him as he fell, we rushed right home after seeing that he was extremely weak and his lips were blue, seeing that he was wearing a ratty jacket which was clearly taken from the trash pile, we brought him to our home, Harley called Selena to bring as many blankets that she had at her place as we had very few here. When we brought him here we removed the cold wet clothes, that was when we saw his injuries."

There was silence as the quill caught up with what had been said.

"Could you please describe the injuries that you saw?" The agent asked.

Ivy nodded.

"The first one that we saw was the horrific brand on his chest, it appeared to be fairly recent, having been done within no more than twenty-four hours, and maybe as recent as an hour. The brand had the appearance of the cross, the Christian Holy Cross that is. There were blisters surrounding the area, the skin was red and raw, there were blackened pieces of skin around the area. It was a sickening sight.

"As we lifted him up to remove the clothes we saw something even worse. Something that I'd never thought that I would see someone do to another human being, it was foul and sickening that I hope that when this is over Harrison will not remember the injuries or the experience that he had when they were given to him.

"When we lifted him up to remove his wet clothes we saw words carved into his back, they were clearly done with a small blade but I don't believe that it was sharp, it was too rough and gruesome for that. When I saw it the first thing I realized before I saw what it spelled was that there were patches of blackened skin, not burnt skin but blackened from illness, there was white pus weeping from the wound.

"I treated it with an herbal remedy after I cleaned the wound with a saltwater solution, I was wary of removing any of the skin in the area at that time so I covered it with the remedy and placed a bandage over the top of it. After that, I placed a mix of Aloe Vera, thyme, Coconut oil and St. Johns Oil. All the plants that I used were grown here and are naturally stronger with their healing effects than others are.

"I set him up on a centrifuge machine that was set up with a warm saline solution since it helps to treat dehydration, then when Selena arrived we covered him with Blankets then Harley and Selena provided him with Body heat until he woke up. After he woke up we gave him some fruits and nuts that were naturally filled with Vitamins and antioxidants to help him recover." Ivy stated.

"He was extremely skinny, that was one of the first things that I noticed about him." Selena offered. "When he woke up he panicked because he didn't know where he was, he had no idea that he was in Gotham, we were told that it was supposedly accidental magic that brought him to the parklands, and ultimately to Harley and Pamela.

"He was too skinny and there were signs of other abuse, bruises, marks from what I can only imagine was belt whippings, he tried to get up saying that there were things that he had to do so from what I can think, or surmise, was that they had him doing chores every day, from what I could gather he would make them breakfast, when we said good morning to him he panicked and said that he had to make something."

Harley chipped in. "It wasn't just that, he had a nightmare and we only found out because I went into his room to check on him, you know, just to make sure that he was alright, I found him fidgeting in his bed but he wasn't making a sound, when he made a sound he visibly flinched.

"I was a professional Psychologist and I learnt many things over that time and seeing Hare-Bears reaction told me one thing, whomever he was living with beat him until he was programmed to act the way that they wanted, they were making him into, from what I could tell, their own personal slave that would act the way they wanted, do things that they wanted and wouldn't complain about it because he would already know that they would beat him."

The interview continued covering things from Harry's reactions to various things that they did and how they acted, what they did to help Harry, where they took him, what kinds of test did they do, who knew where Harry was currently, when did they do certain things with him. When they brought up the situation at the Mall with Joker that brought a new round of questions about what happened, where they were when things happened, who saw what did what, when did things occur.

It took hours for everything to be hashed out, all the different things that were needed to be discussed and then backstories, fact-checking amongst countless other things, they had to supply contact information for Thorne because he did the preliminary examination of Harry, they handed over any and all photographs of Harry's injuries that they took so that the agency would be able to press charges.

When Harry asked if he was going to have to leave and return to the Dursley family Julia told him right out that there was no way that any of the three women, Harley, Pamela or Selena, would allow that to happen, even she herself would step in and get him away from there if she heard anything about him being forced to go back there.

Harley asked if he would need to return to England to testify against them in court, Julia told them that there was a Law that would protect him from having to be in the same courtroom with them, and if he needed to testify then he would do so in a way that would prevent the Dursley's from coming anywhere near him, he wouldn't be anywhere where they would hurt him. If the worst happened and he needed to be there in person then a team of US Marshals, that were known to magic, would take him there and protect him from them.

Regardless Harry was still nervous about having people knowing about what happened to him, he was more scared about having to go back and see them, his uncle wouldn't be nice to him if he had to go back and see them.

* * *

Somewhere in the highlands of Scotland, in an old Castle filled with Old Magic an old man with a long white beard was seated behind a large imposing wooden desk, surrounded by an impressive number of tomes that were amassed with Magical knowledge, and mere feet from where he was seated a large bird was seated on an elegant and showy perch.

As he sat there he leaned back and looked over everything within his office, he looked throughout the room, looking at the different books that he'd collected over the many years of his life, all the memories that came along with them. Looking over everything in the room his eyes eventually his eyes fell to the numerous silver metal trinkets and devices that were lined up in a peculiar order.

Many of them were spinning, gleaming, whirling or doing something different from the others around it, but as his eyes fell onto a small few trinkets his eyes widened.

There was a single trinket that he'd been keeping an eye on but for the last few days he'd been distracted with the Wizengamots Easter Gala where Jacob Potter, better known as the Boy-Who-Lived, the savior of the Magical World, was present and was introduced to some of Magical England's political allies. He was there to be seen as the man behind the savior, solidifying his position as the man behind the next leader of the light.

He didn't realize what happened to cause the little trinket to fail, but he needed to look at it further. He rose from his chair and walked over to the cabinet, opened the glass door and carefully lifted out the trinket. He gingerly placed it on the desk and looked it over carefully.

The trinket was of simple appearance, it was a small two-story house on a-field of grass, with a tree on the corner of the small trinket.

The trinket itself was somewhat of a complicated design, the house itself was actually a replication of an actual home in London's outer suburbs, specifically a home in Surrey that belongs to the younger sister of Lilly Potter Nee Evans, the mother of Jacob Potter. The grass was actually a physical indicator of the outer limit of the Wards that were set up at the property, the house would show any damage to the property itself while also showing any pieces of magic that had been placed on the house, either by someone from the outside of the wards or someone on the inside, the tree was a physical indicator of the health of the wards that had been erected.

When the wards were at full strength the tree would be a nice healthy brown, the leaves would be bright green and there would be nothing otherwise wrong with the tree. But that wasn't what he was seeing, the leaves were a dying dark, almost black, brown, the trunk was no longer dense and healthy it was now withered and thin, its color a dull grey. The house itself looked as if it was falling apart, the frames of the house, the rain gutters, and all the joints on the house were no longer showing the golden color that they should have been if the one that the wards were tied to was still there.

The grass was no longer its glowing green, instead it was a muddy brown with patches of dirt instead of grass at all.

'What in Merlin's name?' He thought to himself.

He drew his elegant wand and waved it over the trinket, when the trinket didn't change in at all which caused the aged wizard to grow concerned about what he was seeing.

The house that he was looking at was not just the home of Lilly Potter's sister, it was also the home of Harry Potter, the older child of the Potter Family, who was also supposedly a squib… according to the rest of the magical world, although he knew better.

All these years he knew that the older Potter was not a squib, he was once capable of magic and when he looked him over the night that he found he pair in the destroyed nursery that Halloween night. He tested both boys to see who was responsible for destroying the Dark Lord and ending the war, Jacob had a strong, albeit partially empty core, signs of him having used a good amount of magic, Harry on the other hand had a weak and nearly empty core, in fact he rated barely higher than an everyday squib.

From the scan result it appeared that Harry would be able to use a wand, if only a weak one that would easily change its alliance to anyone that picked it up, he would be able to make potions, etch runes and perform anything within the community that didn't rely on utilizing a wand, but he would find it hard to perform anything higher than third year transfiguration and charms, he would be nothing more than an average Muggleborn student that was born as the younger brother to one of the strongest Wizards born in the 1990's.

He waited a few days to tell Lilly and James, the parents of Jacob and Harry.

They were not happy to hear about this.

James was a proud Pureblood wizard, he didn't follow the belief that blood was everything and having magical blood meant that his child would be strong because of it, but he did believe that squibs, or near-squibs in this case should not be kept with the main family and should instead be sent to live with someone else while he raised his more powerful son.

It was reasons like this that Pureblood families tended to have branch families, the off shoot of the younger child of previous generations, that were free to do as they please while the main family, the family of the older sibling, had some control over them, basically to ensure that they contributed to the family and they weren't going to ruin the family name.

Lilly, on the other hand, was much harder to convince. She believed that since Harry was the older child he could be raised to take over as head of the Potter family after James decided that he had enough, many years in the future. James stated that the head of the Potter family needed to be someone that had the strength of mind to handle political situations and had the power with a wand, and the family magics, to defend their position within the government and anyone that challenged them, which was frequent.

The combined efforts of James, Sirius and Remus, who all stated that the position of Lord Potter commanded a large amount of respect within the Magical world, that there were people that would take advantage of Harry not having the strength of his brother would impact the family negatively, that people would challenge him for the political power that he had and the large fortune that he would have command of when he was in charge. They convinced her that it would be better if he lived with her sister Petunia, it would allow them to reconnect, give Dudley a connection with his cousin, it would allow let Lilly and Petunia to reconnect over Magic, the very thing that separated them once in the past.

Lilly changed her mind and agreed that sending Harry away from their family, having him live with her estranged sister, was better for him in the long run when Jacob had a bout of accidental magic. Jacob had summoned a stuffed Stag that Harry had always carried around with him, the small amount of magic would have been fine had Harry and Jacob been in the same room and not had a flight of stair separating them, and had Harry not been holding onto that toy after being left alone in the nursery.

The deer, with Harry being pulled along for the ride, flew through the air, out the opened door of the nursery, down the hallway and then down the stairs, but because of Harry's young frame hanging from the deer and pulling it down slightly he was pulled mostly head first down the stairs, bouncing off the stairs as the deer moved through the air.

Harry let go of the deer and tumbled down the remaining steps down to the floor, he was caught by Nickols, one of the House-elves of the Potter Family. He brought the injured Harry to Lilly who fussed over him for a moment before she realized what could have happened and decided that it was better for him to be sent away.

She demanded that they put wards up around the house to protect him, since people could supposedly go after him because of his relation with Jacob, she argued that if they wouldn't do that then she would keep him with her, so they conceded and placed wards around the Dursley's home. The wards were solely defensive in nature and were tied to Harry, or so he had told Lilly and James, when in truth they were slightly different.

They were defensive in nature, though their power source were not ward stones that were placed underneath the house, they were actually blood wards that were tied to Harry himself, drawing strength from Harry, they were draining the magic from his blood and slowly making him into an actual squib, thus making him unable to take his position as Lord Potter, resulting in Jacob being the lord of a powerful Pureblood house, regardless of the fact he was a half-blood.

Harry would never be invited to Hogwarts and would never be able to sway his brother away from his control.

That was the plan, but this was happening _far_ too soon.

The wards shouldn't have been this deteriorated until it was nearly time for him to be called to Hogwarts, which would give him enough time to put his pieces into place when Lilly found out that her son would not be joining the school.

Or it would have anyway…

The old man had spent too much time examining the trinket that he was caught unprepared for the door to his office to suddenly open.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore."

His eyes shot up to see who had entered his office.

There standing before him was the last person that he wanted to see the trinket.

"Lilly, what can I do for you?" He asked politely, while mentally cursing the fact that she was present.

"I was just bringing the lesson plans that I had completed for you." She replied, holding the parchment up for him to see when her eyes landed on the trinket. "What do you have there Headmaster?"

Dumbledore smiled his grandfatherly smile, clearly pleased that Lilly didn't recognize the trinket for what it really was.

"Just something that I was toying with in my spare time, my dear. Thank you for bringing the documents for me." He replied as he took the offered documents, noting Lilly's eyes locked onto the little trinket, he could see the gears in her mind turning.

"It's impressive, headmaster." She replied, ignoring his previous statement. "It looks very lifelike, in fact, if the house itself wasn't damaged I'd say it was almost like you'd taken it right out of a Muggle Neighborhood and placed it on the trinket. Did you make it sir?"

"Alas, I was never much for such intricate detailing on something so small. It was a gift from a friend quite some time ago, I had planned on enchanting it to display the seasons as a small project, but I've found that the maker did not want anyone tampering with the piece." He spoke mournfully.

Lilly nodded softly "Well if you'd like some help to enchant something else, do let me know, I'd be more than happy to make some time for a project like that. With James and Sirius working with the Aurors, then Remus and Jacob working together at home, I've found that I have frequently been gifted with time unoccupied."

Albus nodded while his eye's twinkled, they itched slightly as they always did when he performed the small spell.

"A vacant mind, I've found, is something to be treasured, my dear. As it allows one to look over a problem once more with clarity that you did not possess before." He spoke softly.

Lilly nodded once more. "Thank you for the insight professor, but I best be heading back now. No telling what trouble those boys have gotten themselves into. I swear, the last time that I left them alone all together I came back to the house after a few hours and the entire house was charmed to look like a muggle fun house."

Albus chuckled "It is fortunate that they can have such joy these days after everything that they have endured."

Lilly smiled softly "It is headmaster, thank you but I best be returning home."

Albus nodded slightly and watched as she walked out of his office, once she was gone he allowed the frown that he'd been suppressing to appear.

"It seems, dear friend, that she has forgotten her other child, or the device of which she spent hours arguing over." He spoke to the intelligent bird that was seated on the perch nearby. "This alone, could solidify the plans that I have put into place over the years, but I must endeavor to look into the state of the wards. If only to cater to my own curiosity."

He rose from his desk and placed the trinket back on its shelf, out of sight from anyone other than he, where it belonged.

Without taking another moment of hesitation, he strode over to his fire place and picked up a small handful of powder before throwing it directly into the flames.

"Figg Residence, Surrey." He enunciated and with a burst of green flames over his body he vanished.

* * *

When Dumbledore appeared with a roar of green fire Arabella Figg, the kindly old cat lady of Privet drive Surrey, he was greeted to the sight of her numerous Kneazle's roaming around as they pleased.

"Albus, thank Merlin that you're here." An elderly female voice drew his attention.

"Arabella." He greeted. "What has happened?"

"You've tasked me with looking out for young Harry, and I've done all that I could… oh, Albus. I'm so sorry… they've…. Oh, those Muggles, how could they have…"

"Arabella!" Albus spoke with a clear tone that demanded her whole attention.

"Apologies Albus, but those horrible muggles, I'm sorry I've failed you." She broke down in sobs.

"Arabella, please. I need to look at your memories." He soothed. "It will help me understand everything better, it will also allow me to help."

Arabella just nodded and allowed Albus to do as he pleased.

" ** _Legilimens_** " he incanted.

What followed next was a series of rapid images, which he had come to understand many years ago, were in fact snippets of memories. His mind processed the images as they came into view, he focused on what he wanted to know, he focused on Harry potter, Surrey, The Dursley family and recent events.

He watched in the space of a second how over the last few weeks, as snippets, the Dursley family changed from a normal, from exterior view, family into a very secretive and reclusive one. The Patriarch, Vernon Dursley, was a whale of a man, being as wide as he was tall with a horrific combover that was held in place with the grease that his body produced thanks to all the unhealthy foods that he devoured. The Matriarch, Petunia Dursley Nee Evans, was as thin as a stick, with a pinched and seemingly elongated face that oddly enough reminded those that saw it of a horse, he watched in the memories as Arabella had observed her nosing around the neighborhood voicing her opinions about anything and everything that she was able to do. Their child… he was just like his father, growing wider as time ticked on, he was the neighborhood delinquent, that was clear to see at a glance.

Finally, they reached the reason why she had been so upset.

The Dursley family had been arrested not an hour before by Scotland yard, but that wasn't what concerned him the most. Along with the regular metropolitan Police there was also a man standing in a plain suit with dark glasses obscuring his eyes.

At least that was how he appeared to muggles and some weaker levels of squibs, which thankfully Arabella was just above, but not by much.

To Albus he appeared differently.

He was still wearing the dark suit, but there was a clear insignia embossed on his breast pocket.

A golden circle with writing along the border that he couldn't read, but he could see that there was a darkened version of a bird, what type he couldn't make out, but he could see the white and red stripes on the chest.

He knew what that insignia was.

He was about to look away when he noticed something else.

There was a border around the insignia, outside of the one that it already had, in fact he would have missed it had the memory Arabella not been as close as she was.

There was a shield behind it.

Albus cursed when he saw it.

The shield belonged to an organization that would raise questions if he just went and poked around, asking questions that he'd need to learn about why there was an American Law enforcement agent in England without _him_ being notified. He wasn't able to just ask the American representative, since England and the Americas have been at odds since the second world war, as the muggles called it.

The Americans hated England for one simple reason.

When Grindelwald, who lead the magical side of the second world war, was captured by Newt Scamander and held by MACUSA, The Magical Congress of the United States of America, England caused a stir to get him returned to England where he was to face trial for his crimes, but the English had _supposedly_ allowed him to escape, even though agents from England and America were both killed in the escape. He then terrorized the world for another eighteen months before _he_ , the Great _Albus Dumbledore_ , defeated him and ended the war completely.

The American's had not been happy about it and had caused a stir because he would always say ' _defeated_ ' and they were concerned that he would rise again, even though it was contested that he had to have died because Albus held his wand.

The Americans never respected England's Ministry of Magic again.

There was nothing he could do until the next meeting.

There were people gathered around to look and watch as the Family fought and struggled against the police as they were escorted into different police cars, he was barely able to hear what it was they were being charged with over their shouting.

"Under arrest for suspected First-degree murder, willful abuse of a minor, embezzlement, illegal dumping of evidence and property, along with several other crimes that you are yet still suspected for." The officer spoke, his tone was serious and it was clear that whatever it was that they had found within the house was enough to have them arrested on the spot.

Dumbledore pulled himself out of Arabella's memories, visibly shaken and concerned about what he'd seen.

'If word of this gets back to Lilly then this may ruin everything.' he thought to himself.

He would need to do everything that he could to keep this quiet and out of the papers, he would need to get in touch with everyone that he could, this would cost him a large amount of the debts that he has gathered over the years, but it would be worth it should everything go to plan. He had already started to reconnect with Nicholas so that everything would be prepared for Jacob's first year.

This would need to be kept quiet.

He gave Arabella a nod in thanks and departed by floo.


	6. Chapter 5

It took nearly two months for all the paperwork to be taken care of, there were several interviews that seemed to blend into each other with how often they were had and repetitive times that the story of how Harry arrived in the care of two, and the regular visitation of another, of Gotham City's most dangerous women.

Thankfully over the course of the two months the Dursley family were tried in court with a signed and sworn statement from Harry, with plenty of invasive pictures of the numerous injuries that he had walked, well… shadow travelled, away from. There were several more travels to see the healer and several more tests that Harry needed to take to get everything that the courts wanted in order to lock the Dursley family away.

During one of the medical tests that was needed for the courts several important results were confirmed by the healers and Doctors.

One; The branding on Harry's chest would _NOT_ be able to be removed, covered up or disguised in anyway without painful surgery and numerous skin grafts because of how badly the area was damaged. There would not be any damage to his heart, thankfully, or muscles in the area, but the brand would forever remain with him.

Two; He would need to be on a very strict diet to help him recover from the drastic Malnourishment that he was suffering, the faces that were made when the doctors were told that Harry was actually six and not four like they had assumed from his appearance would remain with the group of four forever.

Three; The worst thing that they were told about Harry's time at the Dursley's was that there would be one thing, other than the brand, that they would not be able to prevent or heal as the damage had been done and had taken affect within the Raven-haired boy's body. It was confirmed when an offhand question about how his new glasses were that actually revealed this to the group.

* * *

Kayden finished writing the last of his notes while observing Harry undertaking a small physical evaluation, this was something that Louise, the physical therapist that Harry had been working with to help him with him to ensure that he was recovering properly after everything that he'd been through, had insisted on him doing while Harry was in a session with her. This was so Kayden would also take notes on the things that she would tell him to, Kayden would then share a copy of these notes with her later on. The Physicals that Harry was having with Louise was something that she had insisted on, mostly for her own piece of mind, not that she had told anyone, but it was also so she would be able to ensure that he was growing at a steady pace to the height and size that he should be.

"Alright Harry, let's get you all sorted out then we can get you home to your mothers." Kayden smiled as Harry came over whipping his face with a towel that he'd obtained from somewhere.

"Do you have everything that you need?" Kayden asked.

"Miss Louise gave me everything that I would need to do the exorcises at home." Harry replied.

"That's good, make sure that you do them exactly as she told you."

"I will."

They quickly gathered everything that they had brought with them and started making their way through the hospital.

As they had just turned a corner they narrowly bumped into another Doctor.

"Sorry about that Jack." Kayden apologised as he adjusted the items that the was holding and had nearly dropped.

"That's alright, my fault. I should have been paying attention to what I was doing." Jack replied, he blinked when he saw Harry. "Oh! Hello Harry, how are the new glasses treating you?"

"They've been causing me a little trouble, actually." He said, unsure of himself.

It was something that he was working on with Harley's help.

Jack looked at Harry, or more specifically his glasses.

"That's odd. You said that they were perfect when we ran the tests last week." Jack voiced.

"They were, but they started to hurt my eyes after a little while." Harry said, though it was in a quieter tone.

Jack breathed out deeply, as he looked the glasses over, taking them off Harry's face and holding them against the light before looking back in Harry's eyes.

"Kayden, would it be alright if Harry and I ran another test or two?" Jack asked, though it was clear by his tone of voice that he wasn't actually asking for permission.

Kayden recognized the 'Doctors Orders' tone that was being used.

Without another word the small group of three went through the Hospital heading towards the specialist wing where he worked. It was a short while later that Jack switched off the machine that he was using to check Harry's _new_ prescription. Jack compared the two prescriptions that he had taken of Harry's eyes and although that there was only a slight difference it was enough to cause flags to be raised to the optometrist.

"What's wrong?" Kayden asked after several minutes seemed to pass.

Jack slid the two prescriptions across the desk to show Kayden.

"They're different…" Kayden offered.

Jack nodded.

"But the fact that I took the first one the last time that he was here, less than two weeks ago means that there's something wrong. There shouldn't have been such a difference so soon, which means..." Jack left it open for Kayden to finish.

"There's something wrong, something that we both missed." Kayden groaned. "You call the parent's I'll get his files."

A half hour later saw Selena and a somewhat disguised Harley sitting in Jack's office.

"So, what's happening?" Harley asked as she hugged Harry. The worry and concern clear on her face.

"Miss Quinn, unfortunately when Harry came to see us the first time with Miss Kyle, there were some anomalies with his scans." Jack began. "When Healer Kayden was looking over the test results from the scans, he found nothing out of the ordinary but he believed that there was something 'off', was how he had put it."

"I remember that." Selena voiced. "He said that there was something bugging him about the results that he wasn't able to figure out."

Kayden nodded "That's right, I wasn't able to recognize what it was."

"That was until he brought the results to me." Jack stated. "It took a little while, but we were able to figure it out while we were waiting for you. We were able to pull up the digital copy of the results, which allowed us to get a better look at the results."

There seemed to be tension between the two medical professionals.

"So, what aren't you telling us?" Harley asked.

Jack sighed.

"We figured out why Harry's been having issues with his eyes, even though he's been wearing the correct prescription."

Kayden pressed a switch on a small device where the scans were placed, turning on the light behind the screen and illuminating the scans for them all to see better, though to Harley and Selena they did not make much sense.

"What Kayden couldn't see, but I was able to recognize, is that there was more severe damage to the tissue surrounding the ocular muscles. It is unclear just how bad this can or will develop for Harry in the future. For the most part this could just mean that until he's older and his body stabilizes the damaged tissue with newer, more developed, tissue of its own he will have to make frequent trips to see an optometrist to update the prescription and to make sure that there isn't any other damage being done.

"On the other hand, this can continue until Harry, ultimately, loses the ability to see out of one, or both of, his eyes. At this time the only thing that we can do is to wait things out and see how they develop. I'll send away the new prescription and his glasses should be ready for him within a week, maybe two at the latest. I will also need to consult with a specialist operating out of Central City, he may have some answers as to what we can do about Harry's revealed condition, there may be some surgery involved, perhaps some medication, but I won't know that until I speak with him."

The two women and young boy were silent, unable to form words at the revelation that they were just handed.

"I don't wanna go blind." Harry broke down in tears "I like seeing Miss Harley…"

Anything else that he was attempting to say was muddled up with his heavy crying.

* * *

That was quite some time ago. Harry had been seen to by several specialists, they had no clue as to what was actually causing the deterioration of tissue, and without knowing the cause they had no way as to treat and heal the damage being caused.

But there was something that they were able to do, thankfully for Harry. Though there was going to be some time before he was able to use said method. The method was actually proposed by another member of Aegis, specifically a member that was studying Blood Magic. They recommended that they use blood magic to link a pair of glasses, or something of the like, to Harry that was also enchanted to provide perfect vision for him.

The only issue being that Harry would need to perform some of the magic involved in it, thankfully the only things that he needed to do was a portion of the engraving, then activating the runic array. The blood mage would be able to draw the blood runes needed after that was done, then Harry would be able to see no matter what his prescription changed to.

The issues preventing this method were simple and were easily solvable, but needed time, specifically for harry to be of a certain age, he also needed to have learnt enough to actually make a stele for himself. Regular engraving tools were not something that they were able to use for something so detailed and complex as a Blood magic and rune array such as this would need to be.

Time and learning were all the things that they needed to make the glasses for Harry, so for now he was suck with getting prescriptions updated and an entire new set of glasses.

This was several years ago now and Harry has come to terms with his lack, and continued degradation of vision.

Over the few years that he was living with Harley and Ivy Harry had many good times, as well as a few of the more… _interesting_ times when he was fortunate, or not as most cases were, to meet with other members of Gotham's super villain underground.

The first of which was, not surprisingly, Mr Freeze. He had asked, perhaps more from politeness and civility than anything else, about how Harry was doing with the hypothermia and if there were any other repercussions that came from the experience. He was introduced to Harry a few days later by Selena, who was dressed as Catwoman, he gave Harry a quick check-up which lead to explaining, though a highly redacted version, of Harry's reason for being in the snow. Freeze was polite enough not to make a big deal about it, or he just didn't care, but commented that he was more than happy to help Harry from freezing, which lead to him introducing Harry to his wife, who was in cryogenic stasis.

The next member of Gotham's underbelly that he met was Riddler. Harry still had a headache from all the brain-teasers that he's been forced to answer. He didn't ask Harley, who accompanied Harry and Selena, how Harry came under her care, though there was a chance that he already knew, thus having no need to actually ask the question.

Two-face was next, Harry found that he liked Harvey though he did not particularly like Harvey's other half, he had referred to the scarred half of Harvey's face as Two-face, as some form of differentiating between the two after he'd heard about what had happened to cause the accident.

Harry did not like being around Penguin, though that could have something to do with being in the penguin lounge where he somewhat refused to leave unless he was committing a crime of some kind, the lounge was surrounded with ice sculptures of various designs, though mostly consisting of penguins and other birds. There were an assortment of thugs and crooks that liked to hang out at the lounge, along with multiple _respectable_ members of Gotham's elite. When Penguin realized that Harry was with Selena he attempted to get him under his thumb, clearly hoping to use him against Harley and Ivy, a beating saw that he would think twice in the future.

A single 'meeting' with Scarecrow was more than enough for Harry in any lifetime. Crane blasted Harry with a dose of his 'Fear Gas' causing Harry to have a very serious panic attack. Normally it would pass within an hour, depending on the concentration of the dose and the victims psyche, but because Harry had been experimenting with his shadow abilities for a while, under the supervision of Harley and Selena upon occasion, they were quick to respond. Selena was quick to get Harry away from Crane and back to Ivy, who had thankfully had been working on something that would help those affected by Crane.

The meeting with Crane lead to Harry meeting with the Shadow Elemental Instructor from McCallum academy.

Valkyrie Cain.

One of the strongest Shadow Elementals throughout the magical world. Senior Security officer of McCallum Academy's Magical main campus and the schools Physical Defence Teacher.

She wasn't a member of any of the various political factions, being as powerful as a small faction all on her own. Valkyrie was naturally suited to acting on her own, which was reinforced by her element, that being as Shadow elementals were naturally inclined to remain within their element, metaphorically speaking, sticking to the shadows and avoiding being placed in the spotlight, thought she was one of the rare elementals that weren't naturally inclined to act as their element dictates, but at the same time Valkyrie never placed herself within the light, it naturally shifted towards her.

* * *

Pamela sighed as she dropped heavily into her chair.

"How's he doing?" Selena asked.

Pamela groaned and rubbed her sore neck.

"Sleeping. Finally." She replied. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Selena gulped, she hated the way that Ivy had taken to acting whenever Harry is involved with something. She was so over protective these days.

"I'm not too sure why, but while Harry and I were scouting out the museum-" Selena blanched when she saw Ivy's glare. "It was for a heist in a few days, alone. I know better than to include Harry in a job after the last time I pulled one and Harley showed up half way through and wrecked the place.

"Anyway, we were there and I was teaching him what to look out for, should he ever need to break into somewhere, or avoid a tail. _Don't give me that look Ivy!_ All of a sudden Scarecrow attacks a bank a street over and starts attacking people with his gas, Harry caught a breath of it before I was able to warn him or get him away from it.

"Once we were able to get clear I noticed Harry was acting strange then he started freaking out-"

 _You were lucky that neither of you were hurt._

"Whose there?" Ivy and Selena shouted as they shot to their feet.

 _You can relax, I guess._

The female voice seemed to get closer, both women noticed that there were shadows creeping up the wall across from them. Ivy called to her plants, vines came through the open windows ready to ensnare anyone they were commanded to, Selena drew her whip and had it ready to strike.

"Phoebe sent me to check in on Harry…" The voice said as a black boot emerged from the shadows, followed by a leg.

At the mention of Phoebe both Selena and Pamela calmed down slightly but they still remained on guard.

They both watched as a woman wearing black formfitting jeans, black leather thigh-high boots, an open three-quarter length coat with a black tunic underneath and long strait black hair step out of the shadows, her hands tucked into the outer pockets of her coat.

"…So, there's no need to be so defensive." She finished as the shadows returned to normal.

"Who are you?" Selena asked.

"And, why are you here?" Pamela added.

Valkyrie raised an elegant eyebrow and looked at the two.

"I'm Valkyrie Cain, I was approached by Phoebe Helliwell to teach Harry how to use and control his powers." She replied calmly, uncaring as to what had been about to happen. "Originally, I was going to teach him when he was enrolled into the academy, like I would any other student that was able to manipulate the same elements that I can.

"But the events taken place today have forced me to come earlier than I would have liked, but I made a promise and I am planning on fulfilling that promise. There is also the fact that, should Harry's power grow stronger while he is in his current state, feeding from the fear and dark emotions that he's being forced to endure, then his power will grow too fast and he will be unable to control it, no matter what training that he undergoes."

There was a tense silence between the three women looked at each other.

None of them spoke for what seemed to be several minutes.

They were interrupted when a deep presence was felt coming from where Harry's room was.

Selena and Pamela weren't aware of what the presence was, but they could feel the energy that was being produced, though they both were aware that it was something dangerous.

Valkyrie knew exactly what the presence that was being emitted was actually Shadow, or Darkness, Magic.

Unlike normal elementals, those who can utilize or manipulate the four basic elements and some of their advanced forms, the four basics being; Fire, Water, Earth and Air, their advanced forms being; Lightning, or Electricity, Ice, Metal and some forms of Weather or Storm, someone like Harry or Valkyrie who can manipulate Shadows or Darkness, or even someone who can manipulate Light, their emotions, experience and upbringing can conflict with the element itself.

Those that can Manipulate Light, it was speculated that many religious figures such as the pope, Dali Lama, Mother Theresa and others of the sort, were actually capable of Manipulating the element of Light. People that were able to manipulate the Light element were mostly of a giving nature, always doing what they could to help others, placing themselves in a position where they were always able to be found when someone needed help, though that wasn't to say that there weren't malicious people that were able to control the same element.

Those that could manipulate the Element of Darkness, tended to find learning to use their powers was harder to do than those of other elements. While Light reveals that which is hidden, Shadows and Darkness conceal the dangers that we learn to fear.

That was where the real difference between the two elements was.

Light was open for all to see, giving away its knowledge for the betterment of others.

Darkness was closed, hidden away in places that people feared to go. Places that people did not want to look.

Those that weren't strong enough often found themselves walking away from the element, others forced their way through only to be consumed by the darkness. But those that respected the element and went at a pace where they were able to take a step forward without slipping, like Valkyrie herself, found that they were able to stand in either Darkness or Light comfortably, though they tended to remain in the cool embrace of the shadows.

Without a word to Pamela or Selena, Valkyrie spun on her heel and started walking towards Harry's room, undeterred by the vicious plants that were grown throughout the gardens.

The plants either ignored her presence as she walked through the garden or they moved as best they could out of her way, as if she were the predator and they the prey.

Valkyrie walked with purpose, her every action displaying the eloquence and power that she had obtained over the course of her life, power rolled over her form. She didn't need to bend the shadows to her whim to give of the dangerous air that she naturally produced.

As she got closer to Harry, and the growing darkness that he was producing.

When she stood outside his door he could see the tendrils of shadows wreathing across the frame of the door and the surrounding wall, protecting Harry within the room while also trapping him in there without a chance for anyone else to help him.

This wasn't the first time that she'd come across this type of 'Protection' and she was sure that this wouldn't be the last time that she would encounter it when approaching a potential candidate.

'This kid has a strong connection to the shadows' Valkyrie thought, as she assessed the shadows that were surrounding the doorway.

Part of her mind began to question as to what reason the child had to be so connected to the shadows, to the darkness that she had come to develop a bond with. Another part of her mind started to think about just how far the darkness had come to consume the young boy, and what that would mean for the training that she would give and he received. It was something that she would need to think more on at a later time, the shadows emanating from the room, from the boy were starting to grow further away from their source.

Valkyrie cracked her knuckles and allowed some of her personal shadow to awaken, it was a technique that all manipulators of the shadows would need to learn and master, there was such a need that there was a saying reflecting it;

' _Control over one's shadow, is control over one's self_ '

It wasn't the best of sayings but it got its point across never the less.

Valkyrie's shadow moved forward, like a pool of black ink across a sheet of white paper, moving towards the doorway, it split itself in two at her will, it made its way up the wall circling the wreathing darkness. She started to have the shadows encroach the others, overpowering the rouge darkness with her own strength.

As soon as her own darkness touched the shadows she felt the full power behind them, the raw untapped potential that was contained within the child, the sheer will power and desire for freedom that he held. She could feel it all.

She could feel everything that the child had allowed to flow within the darkness, coming to understand that this wasn't just darkness and shadows, this was the boys very soul crying out in need.

Valkyrie suddenly understood everything that she needed to do for the child.

Valkyrie closed her eyes and allowed more of her essence to flow into the shadows that she was using, sending forward a message of compassion and friendship, or so she hoped, as she guided the shadows back. Guiding instead of forcing, that was the secret.

The boy knew what it was like to be forced into position, and she knew that it wasn't what he needed right now. So, she allowed her shadows to move on their own while she followed after them.

Almost like a parent allowing their child the freedom to explore while also being close enough to assist them should they need it.

The shadows responded in a positive way, they moved back within the room without causing any issues. Once both shadows were inside the room Valkyrie opened the door.

The entire room was obscured in shadow, everything inside the room was black. The object inside the room had no outlines, it was as if she was staring simply into the abyss without anything to illuminate what she was seeing. But she was able to feel where her shadows were, and they were slowly edging forward, only moving as fast as the shadows that the boy was retracting would allow her to. It was somewhat slow but there was clear progression.

After a minute passed she was able to step into the room.

"It's time to awaken." She spoke, her tone calm and non-invasive.

The shadows stopped moving, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"I was sent to help you." Valkyrie spoke.

The shadows twitched, but did not move otherwise.

"I was sent by Phoebe-"

At the mention of Phoebe, the shadows surrounding Harry's upper body vanished, allowing her to see, vaguely, the young boy that she was sent to help.

"Miss Phoebe sent you?" He asked.

Valkyrie had to stop herself from changing her facial expression at the sound of such a weak-willed voice, it was completely contradictory to the force that she felt within the shadows.

"That is correct. I assume she told you about her powers of premonition?"

She saw Harry nod.

"Well she had a very powerful one a little while ago, and she saw you were in trouble and needed some help." Valkyrie explained, taking another step into the room. "She knew that she wasn't the right person to help you so she sent me in her place."

The shadows moved back towards Harry, but they were still wreathing around, like an exposed nerve, but Valkyrie was now able to stand fully within the room.

"Did she tell you who I am? Or give you any clue about why I would be seeing you?" Valkyrie asked, though doubting that Phoebe had told him anything about her.

"Are you the lady who teaches others how to use Shadows?" he asked.

Valkyrie blinked for a second, not actually expecting an airhead such as Phoebe to mention her when the child didn't really need to know about her this soon.

"That's correct, I'm Valkyrie Cain. I work at McCallum Academy as a teacher and as one of the senior staff members of the school's security. I'm also a, somewhat, friend of Phoebe's and I tend to offer my assistance with Aegis, should they be involved in something that they aren't able to handle."

The shadows were now contained around the bed.

"Can you do me a favour?" Valkyrie asked Harry.

He nodded meekly.

"Can you pull the shadows back?" She asked "Consider this your first lesson in Shadow Elemental training, learning basic control."

When he heard that it was now training Harry developed a mildly determined look in his eye. Valkyrie watched as the shadow's wreathing movements slowed to a halt, but only some of it was doing as Harry wanted it to.

"You don't need to force it." Valkyrie said.

It was a common thing to do when attempting to pull the shadow back in when it ran wild like it was a short while before, but the shadow didn't do well when it was commanded. Darkness is its own master. Shadow Elementals could only guide the way that the darkness acted, and even that took considerable amounts of training and time.

"Guide it like you would water, picture it flowing towards you. Slowly and calmly, like waves at the beach." She spoke, guiding Harry's mind to understand what it was that he needed to do.

The shadows started to flow and change, moving slightly forward then receding back twice as far before flowing forwards and then flowing twice as far back, just like waves at the beach.

'Kid's a sponge.' Valkyrie thought to herself as she saw him doing exactly as she told him to.

After a minute the shadows were a dark pool rippling and wreathing around Harry, seeming to be protecting him without receding as his face reflected the difficulty that he was currently having.

"Alright, that's enough, stop trying to force the shadows to do what they clearly don't want to do." She said, after a moment Harry opened his eyes and Valkyrie could see the depth of emotion within those emerald orbs.

"I'm sorry, they won't listen to me." Harry said sorrowfully as he pulled his legs closer to his chest.

Valkyrie waved him off.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, you're just ahead of the curve, so to speak. The shadows that won't listen to you are actually a part of your mind controlling the magic that allows you to control the shadows around you, the reason that they're not listening to you is because there's a part of your mind that _wants_ them there, some part of you, no matter how small, wants these shadows around you to protect you from something.

"I'm going to take my shadow back, I want you to try keeping your shadow where it is." Valkyrie said.

When she saw Harry nod she thinned out her shadow so it was just resembling a wire in thickness, before it split into two pieces and slowly made its way back to Valkyrie's position.

"Focus." She voiced when she saw Harry's shadow move forward in what looked like an attempt to enshroud the room once more.

Harry seemed to tense up slightly before he appeared to take active control over the shadow and pull the shadow back into the position that he had it before. When he seemed to have it under control she completely retracted her shadow and allowed him to have free reign with his newfound shadow ability.

Valkyrie thought that it was strange to see the way that Harry was reacting to the shadows, his control was edgy at best and the shadow seemed to move several inches then freeze for a moment before continuing its path before stopping and starting again and again. They odd grin on Harry's face seemed out of place considering the way that she had entered the room and the way that he as reacting when she first arrived.

It seemed that whatever had happened was now pushed to the side and allowed him to focus more on the new ability that he had to play with, which was both good and bad, all things considered.

"Do you want to tell me what happened to cause your abilities to awaken like they did?" Valkyrie asked after allowing Harry to play around for several minutes.

Harry stopped playing around when his mind processed what she had just said, and the thoughts that he had earlier came back to the forefront of his mind.

"I know that you've had a very… challenging childhood Harry." Valkyrie spoke comfortingly. "But I want you to know; I will only be able to help you control your power if you trust me. Shadow Elementals like you and I gain power easily, but controlling that power is the hardest thing that you will learn.

"To learn control, you need to know what makes you lose control. Once I know what makes you lose control, I can help teach you how to overcome it. Otherwise the shadows will control you and that's something I'm sure that you don't want Harry."

Valkyrie let Harry think about what she had said to him, he knew that she was right, from what he could determine about what she had said to him. He didn't want to lose control, he wanted to learn magic and this was a part of his magic, he knew that the control that he had over the shadow he was using wasn't going to last, he could already feel them trying to pull away from him even as he tried to keep them together.

"I was with Selena." Harry began, not even bothering to hide her identity from Valkyrie, or he just forgot. "We were spending some time together while Mom and Mama Harley were busy. We were on a rooftop across the road from the Museum when we heard sirens coming from one of the streets we were close to.

"We were both curious about what it was and since we were close enough we took a look, we saw that it was Scarecrow, the villain, and he was throwing around these small orange things. One of them hit the building we were on top of and I was sprayed with the Gas, Selena pulled me away so I only got a small dose but it was enough.

"Everything started spinning around and I wasn't able to see anything clearly. It was like everything was covered in a strange fog where everything danced around and nothing was solid, not even the ground under my feet.

"I heard someone calling my name and I saw Selena, only it wasn't her, it was some kind of… _Thing_ that looked like her slightly and then everything started to change. Like everything was under the control of someone that I couldn't see. Her eyes were red and the sound of snakes was all I could hear. As I tried to block it out I could hear her shouting my name, only it wasn't her.

"The voice… it was… it… there was nothing but _fury_."

When he said 'Fury' the shadows shot out in different directions, avoiding where Valkyrie was sitting, they shot up the walls and across the floor, ending in jagged spirals and swirls.

"It was like the worlds anger was directed at me for something that I didn't know that I had done. It hurt, like a knife was being driven through my heart, I could hear Mama Harley and Mom saying that they… that they…" He drew in a shaky breath "That they should have let me freeze in the snow like the dog that I was..."

Harry drew in several shaky breathes as his chest heaved under the heavy emotions that he was allowing to flow through him. He raised a shaky hand and gripped the front of his shirt so tight that his knuckles were white.

"It was like that day all over again, I could feel the heat, the anger and the hate. I could hear their voices in my mind, even though I know that they are locked away and aren't able to hurt me anymore, when I heard their voices again… it all just came back, all those years that they… it was like every moment was repeating itself over and over and over again, but this time it was like each and every time that they hit me, beat me, starved me, abused me…"

Harry drew in a ragged breath while Valkyrie remained silent, out of shock, anger or some other emotion was unknown.

"It was like it was all happening again and instead of being spread out over the years that I was with _them-_ "

The shadows gained a more menacing look as the air chilled.

"-was all crammed into each and every second and I just wanted it to _Stop_."

The shadows pulsed but made no other movement.

"I just wanted it all to _Stop_ , I wanted to _Stop_ being afraid of them, _Stop_ feeling so weak, _Stop_ letting other people control what I do, _Stop_ being some plaything for someone to use then shove into a hole until they want to use it again."

Each time he said 'Stop' the shadows pulsed and the air lowered in temperature by a few degrees.

Valkyrie remained calm as Harry's emotions seemed to get out of control.

"There's only one way to do that." Valkyrie stated.

Harry's eye locked onto hers "How?"

"The simplest way possible. Get stronger and never stop." She replied. "Through blood sweat and tears, drag yourself through the mud and get strong enough to make people think twice about crossing you.

"There's several different groups that have some kind of power or say over the Magical community here in America, within the school there's a group that call themselves 'The Royal Families' they are old Families that have been Magical for centuries, they hold power and control in the Magical and Non-Magical worlds.

"There's 'Dragon's Talon' they are mostly a criminal faction throughout the country, they aren't too dangerous, all things considered, they tend to act as mercenaries and criminals working for the person with the most money. They're dangerous, don't get me wrong, but compared to others they aren't too dangerous.

"There's a group called 'The Great Library' they are a group concerned about gathering knowledge and information throughout the Magical world. It is rumored that they have been around for centuries, they have a noble goal but they go too far more often than not, they've been attempting to break into the academy for years.

"There's another criminal group known as Blue Spirit, they're more Dangerous than any of the other groups that I've mentioned. I'm not going to get too deep into what they've been up to, because there are too many things that they've done.

"Then there is Phoebe's group, Aegis. They, as I'm sure you know, work to keep both worlds separate from each other, at least keep the criminal sides of them apart I mean. Their goal is to have both Magical people and Non-Magical people working together in harmony, but there are other groups, smaller groups than what I've mentioned, that have their own ideas about that.

"This Handful of groups, when they hear what you can do, will be looking for you. The Royals will want to get you on their side, being a neutral group, of a sort, they will attempt to bribe you onto their side, through money, marriage or other means. Talon and Spirit will be more likely to threaten you after attempting to win you over. Library will attempt to goad you into letting them examine you and your powers, so you will need to be careful about that, but for the time being those groups will stay in the shadows and watch you grow, since you're still a kid.

"The real issue that I see is Aegis. While they mean good, and I can vouch that they do, they will attempt to get you to work with them, either by making you owe them or paying you to do things as a consultant which would mean them being able to have the most connection with you. This would allow them to claim you as an ally without you actually joining them."

Harry was silent as he listened to Valkyrie's explanation, but he had a question.

"What group do you belong to?" He asked.

Valkyrie smirked "I don't belong to any group, at least not any group like them. The only group that I'm a part of is the School's Security division, which is what I am paid to do. I leave all the political things to other people and worry about making sure that these groups don't cause trouble throughout the school."

"Oh…" Harry nodded, but not really understanding. "Will Miss Phoebe try and get me to work for Aegis?"

Valkyrie sighed, not really wanting to answer, but she knew that she had no choice.

"Honestly kid, if I didn't know any better I'd say that you already do."

Harry's eyes widened. He was about to say something when Valkyrie raised her hand to stop him.

"That doesn't mean that you have to listen to them or anything, I'm only talking to you today for two reasons. One, this is a favour for Phoebe, which also means I'm doing something for Aegis, which means I am paying off a debt that I owe them. Two, a shadow elemental with the amount of power that you do is dangerous if they aren't trained how to use their abilities, so me being here and teaching you _some_ form of the basics saves lives of both Magicals and Non-Magicals."

Harry's expression showed that he didn't really understand.

Valkyrie sighed.

"Let me put it this way; The only reason that I'm here is because it gets Aegis off my back and means I don't need to help them unless I want to anymore, I'm also here because it's dangerous for you, and your parents, if you cannot control your powers." She explained. "Understand that?"

Harry nodded.

"But there's one thing that they cannot take away from you, no matter what they try to do."

"What's that?" He asked.

"The right to choose your own path." She replied.

This seemed to strike a chord with Harry.

He was free from the Dursley's and had been for some time now, Harry was nine now. Five years. It had been five years since he'd escaped from the Dursley's, from the abuse, the starvation and the torture. He had been getting Love, affection, care and now had a place to call his own for the last five years, sure he'd had to stay with Selena for a while on the odd occasions when Harley or Ivy were both in Arkham, though it tended to be Ivy more than Harley because Harley's world now, for the most part, revolved around Harry.

There were times when Harley went stir crazy, of sorts, from not doing anything that got her adrenaline pumping and allowed her to have fun. The odd Mix between an Antisocial Personality and a Histrionic Personality disorder.

Harley liked to go out and cause a bit of Mayhem, there were times when she would suddenly pull Harry along with her and they'd go and stir up some trouble. The first time that it happened Harley stole a Bugatti in the middle of the night, she arrived back at the Gardens in the morning after hiding out nearby for several hours. She arrived back home, snatched Harry up, of a sort, and they spent the next few hours driving around Gotham, they caused no _real_ damage. Though there was a small amount of property damage and a lot of Police chasing them around. Harley and Harry had fun, Harley enjoyed listening to Harry's bubbly laugh, it seemed that high speeds were something that he liked, though Pamela scolded the pair.

Harley was scolded for taking Harry out and nearly getting them in trouble. Harry was only in trouble for letting Harley take him, not that he could have stopped her. They all knew that Pamela wouldn't really punish the duo because she was smiling too after listening to Harry describe the experience with all the different childish sound effects that he added.

Harry looked back up at Valkyrie.

"Will you help me?" he asked.

Valkyrie smirked.

"Like I told you, I'm here to teach you." She replied. "That means that from this day forth everything you do reflects back on me, so you better make sure that you're ready because I'm not going to let you slack off."

Harry blinked and stared at Valkyrie for a second.

Valkyrie's large toothy smirk faltered.

"What?"

Harry buried his head in his hands.

"What?!" Valkyrie repeated.

Harry's shoulders shook.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Pfft…. Hahahahahahahahahaa!" Harry burst out laughing a deep laugh that came all the way up from his core.

"It's not funny!" Valkyrie shouted, but Harry kept laughing.

Neither of them noticed that the shadows had faded away and there were no signs of them ever having been there in the first place.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two of them, they were being watched. Selena and Pamela had checked in on the two of them after they had been in the room for several minutes and the sensation that they had felt, but after seeing that the strange lady had everything under control they allowed the two their privacy, mostly because they were talking about things that they weren't able to understand.

But they were not the only ones watching the young Potter… well, the young Kyle as it should be.

Harry having taken Selena's last name instead of using his par… Abandoners last name.

He wasn't the same person that had arrived in Gotham City, he was now Harrison James Kyle. Harley had convinced Harry to keep his middle name, since she liked the way that it sounded.

There were others watching the young Kyle and the lady Cain.

"I don' see why dis pipsqueak deserve _Danbala_ attention." A man wearing a Top Hat and Dark Glasses sneered.

"And yet, His connection to your domain is one of the strongest that we've seen, regardless of what, or whom, he has guided us towards in the past." An elderly man smoking a pipe while leaning on his cane replied.

"He don de'erve 'is connection to me, dough dat oder one…" he leered "I'd 'ove to see what's undah 'er clothes"

The man with dark glasses' form rippled and changed, being replaced by a reasonably shorter man with Dark skin.

"I do have to question why he has approached the crossroads so many times, though he has not been guided there by you or me."

The pipe smoking man nodded but remained silent for several moments before speaking again.

"The child has power, he has the will, but he lacks the knowledge that he needs." He divined. "Young Miss Cain will give him the drive to succeed, but the challenges that he will face will challenge him, in mind, body, spirit and through magical means. I just hope that Damballah was correct about this child."


	7. Chapter 6

Harry met with Valkyrie on a regular basis, she would often pick him up from Gotham Elementary and they would spend some time learning about how skilled Harry was with his elemental ability. In the beginning Harry wasn't able to do much and had to take a week off school because he wasn't able to control his shadow, seeing as it had 'awoken' with Harry's power and often moved around when Harry's mind started to wander.

This began his lessons in Occlumency.

Harry was gifted when it came to learning the mind arts, though it wasn't too surprising considering that he'd had to supress his emotions and expressions when he'd been staying with _them_ , so he had a rocky start to begin from. Even though Harry wasn't able to completely control his shadow completely, the week allowed him to learn enough that he would be able to recognize when his shadow started moving around and would allow him to recall it before something happened.

"Occlumency is a complicated art." Valkyrie began as she sat across from Harry in Gotham Park. "It involves, in simple terms, building a wall around your mind to protect your thoughts from others, especially those that can read your mind."

"People can do that?" Harry asked, somewhat excitedly.

"There are those who's powers involve telepathy, which will allow them to talk and communicate through thoughts, which means that they can read your mind to a degree. There is also a Magical equivalent known as Legilimency, while it doesn't let people hear your thoughts it does allow them to 'enter' your mind, so to speak. It's not something that can easily be explained, but once you experience it you'll understand it better.

"While Occlumency allows you to shield your thoughts from others there is also an added benefit of allowing someone, anyone that studies the art anyway, to organize their thoughts. This allows someone to remember things easier because they have everything organized and ready to be remembered when they need to. Do you understand me so far?" Valkyrie asked.

Harry nodded "By learning this Occulo- Occuule- Occ- Mind shield thingy- I will be able to remember things better because I will be able to organize them so its easier to find what I want to remember and no one will be able to read my mind."

Valkyrie nodded "That's a pretty good description, but that doesn't mean that _no one_ will be able to read your mind, just remember that there could always be people that have a better grasp of Occlumency and Legilimency that will have a better chance of breaking through your defence."

Harry's eyes widened.

'Why would she teach me this then if people would be able to get into my head?' he thought.

"I know what you're thinking Harry." Valkyrie smirked when she saw Harry pale, clearly thinking the she had read his mind.

"I didn't read your mind." She stated "You wear your heart on your sleeve."

When Harry just gave her a confused look she explained the phrase.

"It means that you're showing your emotions in such an open and honest way, as soon as I said that someone could still read your mind I saw you pale, meaning that you'd thought that I was reading your mind, that and because you also flinched away from me while looking away from my eyes."

Harry looked bashful when he realized that he had been so easy for her to read, that was something that he'd prided himself on when he was living with _them_ , the only way that they knew they were getting to him is when they had to actively focus on him completely, instead of the small amounts that they normally would. Otherwise no one was able to see how he was feeling, but Valkyrie saw right through him.

"Don't worry about it Harry, I've been doing this for years so I'm skilled enough at reading people without entering their minds." Valkyrie soothed. "Not that I can't do it mind you, but I don't like doing so. It just feels wrong to me."

Harry just nodded, but he didn't look much better.

"There are many ways that you can defend against people entering your mind, in fact you just used one of them." she smirked.

Harry raised an eyebrow "How?"

"You looked away." She stated. "One of the few ways that people can enter your mind is through your eyes. By looking away you are preventing them from entering, it's similar to the way people say 'The eyes are the window to the soul' most people using Legilimency need to use direct sight when they use Legilimency without a wand. When someone uses it with a wand they will have to be close to you and they will be pointing it right at you. Instead of scaring you with all the details I think you'd like it better if we just began the lesson."

"Yes please." He replied.

Valkyrie nodded.

"Alright, close your eyes." She instructed.

Harry did as she said.

"I want you to block everything out, everything but my voice, I want you to focus on that." She said.

Harry gave a single nod as he worked to block the sound of everything around him.

"Breathe in deeply through your nose." Valkyries voice echoed through his mind.

He breathed in.

"Breathe out slowly through your mouth."

He breathed out.

"Keep breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth as you block out the sounds of everything around you."

Harry didn't respond but he did start to ignore the sounds of people around him, the sound of cars driving near the park, the sound of the birds in the trees, the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.

Valkyrie just let Harry sit there breathing in and blocking out the sounds around him for several minutes before she spoke again.

"Can you hear me?" She asked softly.

Harry gave a slow nod, but didn't move much of the rest of his body.

"I want you to imagine a candle, in the middle of your mind. There doesn't need to be anything special about it, other than it being in your mind." She instructed.

Harry pictured the candle, an ordinary candle that he had seen plenty of times at Selena's and at home.

There was nothing special about the candle, it was white, long and thin. Just an ordinary candle that could be found in any shop throughout the city.

"Once you have the candle Harry, I want you to light it. Feel the warmth spreading through your mind and body, let the warmth fill your being."

Harry breathed in through his nose, he pictured a small matchstick lighting the candle. There was a strange familiarity to the hand, but he couldn't recognize who the hand belonged to, it wasn't his hand, that was clear, the hand was calloused, which only came from hard work and the nails were longer than his while being clearly feminine. It belonged to a woman that he wasn't sure the identity of.

It was strange because he didn't picture a hand, he picture the candle being lit aflame, on its own without anyone doing it.

"Once you have the candle, I want you to take all your thoughts, picture each one like a piece of paper. Save all the important ones but feed all the others to the candle." She instructed calmly.

Harry nodded lightly as he continued breathing in and out as she had instructed.

' _How do I make my thoughts like pieces of paper?_ ' he thought.

In his mind's eye he saw the thought was written in his handwriting on a piece of lined paper, like he'd find in a notebook for class.

He pictured it moving over to the candle and being put into the flame, burning away into ashes.

' _That's how._ '

He fed that thought into the candle.

Still using his mind's eye, he found that there were different pieces of paper floating around, it was a surreal experience as he couldn't actually see his hand reaching out for one of the pieces of paper but he could feel his arm moving to pick it up.

He read what was one the paper finding that it was a thought that he'd had the other day.

' _These pants are giving me a wedgie_ '

Harry had a visible smirk on his face that Valkyrie saw and raised an eyebrow at, but was unseen by Harry who fed the though from the other day into the flame. Harry continued to feed the ambient thoughts into the candle, only finding a small handful that he believed were important enough to keep, which were thoughts about what he was going to be learning with Valkyrie, he thought to keep them in case they were useful.

When he'd thought that he had finished feeding the candle he looked around to find any that he had missed, but found something more interesting instead.

Floating somewhere deep within the emptiness that remained within his mind, he could barely make out a strange light that seemed to be pulsing, as if it was beckoning him closer. Somehow, he knew that there was something there that he needed to see, as if that glowing light was a bucket of clean water and he'd just come out of the desert and had no water for the last several days. Going by the same feeling that he had when he reached out for the paper thoughts Harry floated towards the light.

The 'travel' seemed to take a long time, but no time at all, at the same time. When he got closer to the light he started to see that it took a shape, of sorts.

The light was not an orb, or square, or any shape that he knew.

The light moved around like it was a living thing, and for all he knew it was. The light wreathed around like raw nerve, lashing out then retracting back all within a split second. It was strange, frightening, comforting and sickening all at the same time.

"Harry…"

He looked on at the strange light and slowly moved closer.

"Harry, you need…"

He stopped and blinked.

What was he doing?

"Harry…"

Who is that?

Where is it coming from?

"Harry, Snap out of it." the voice said again.

A loud clicking sound echoed through his head as he was dragged back to consciousness.

* * *

Harry's eyes snapped open and his hands came up to cover his ears.

"What was that for?" He growled.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at his tone.

"Well sorry, for making sure that you weren't going to go hungry or stay out in the cold all night." She retorted using her chin to gesture for Harry to look around.

He blinked owlishly when he saw that it was after sun set.

"How long have we been here?" he breathed out in shock.

"We've been here since just after lunch, and its pretty much sun set. So, I'd say we've been here for a good five and a half, maybe six hours."

Harry just stared at Valkyrie, as if he was waiting for her to say that she was kidding but she didn't do that, she just smirked at his panicked reaction.

"The thing that I didn't mention to you before you started meditation was that your sense of time within your own mind is different to what it is in the real world. Minutes feel like seconds, Hours are like minutes, some people could end up getting lost within their own minds and spend what feels like days but is in fact days or weeks in the real world. You went deep within your own mind, which is good, but at the same time, it could have been extremely bad for you to go that deep inside your mind like that.

"What did you see while you were in your own head?" she asked as they started making their way back to the Botanical Gardens.

Harry explained everything that he did while he was in his head, he described the surreal experience as best he could. Valkyrie was interested when he told her that he felt ' _Like I had full control over everything that I wanted or needed within my mind, but at the same time it felt like I had no control over what I was doing with it. As if someone was telling me how to do what it was that I wanted to do but made sure that I only wanted to do what_ IT _wanted to do._ '

The way that he described it was strange in its own way but at the same time it wasn't that strange a concept for her to understand.

"There is a chance that the, so called, voice or thing that was telling you how to do something or what to do, was actually your own mind telling you what it was that you needed to do, even though you don't actually know what it is that you needed to do." She said to him.

"How does that work?"

Valkyrie cocked her head to the side slightly.

"It is a complicated thing to explain, but I'll do what I can. You see, the mind is not actually just one thing; there are many different parts to it. There are several areas of the brain that are easy to name, there's the part that controls movement, another part for your memories, both long term and short term, another part for emotions, another that processes everything that you see and hear, many others that do many other important things for you. Most of these things fall into the Subconscious mind, while things like movement, speech and emotions would fall under the conscious mind.

"The difference between the two is as simple as it is complex; the conscious mind is the part of your mind that you can control, it's the part that lets you move around, that lets you speak, that lets you do things. That is the conscious mind. The subconscious mind is the part of your mind that does everything that you need to do, but does it without letting you know your doing it. It is the part of the mind that makes sure you stay alive, it pumps your heart, makes you breathe, lets you know that you're hungry and many other important things.

"So, while you were there, using your conscious mind to clear your mind of all the things that you didn't need, your subconscious mind reached out and helped you to do what you needed to do." Valkyrie explained "I'm not explaining it that well am I?"

"Not really." Harry admitted.

Valkyrie and Harry spent the next week going over Occlumency and some basic techniques that he could use to help him to remember things. Surprisingly, or not, Harley was of great help with teaching Harry different ways that he could clear his mind, stating that it had been something she'd looked into during the time before she was Harley Quinn.

Harry spent every day that he wasn't at school studying with Valkyrie to control his shadow, after the week passed and he returned to class he was asked to recount something that they had learnt the week before. Harry was originally worried that he'd be unable to remember what it was but just as the thought appeared he immediately recalled the basic idea of what they were talking about. The teacher seemed impressed, although there were a few things that he got wrong he had been able to recall most of what he was meant to.

'I guess Valkyrie was right when she said I'd be able to remember things easier' he had mused to himself.

Seeing how fast Harry was able to progress with his abilities Valkyrie organized to spend some time together, training. This was kept to the weekends mostly, though there were some odd occasions where Harry's shadow got out of control and Valkyrie would be called to help, being the only person that they could call.

* * *

Harry learnt from her many things over the time that they spent together, after Harry made several unplanned trips through the shadows, most of which were a result of falling over his own feet or trying to do something acrobatic, like back flipping off his bed, front flipping over a coffee table or attempting to replicate the wall run that he'd seen in a movie, a foolish but common thing for him any boy to attempt. Harley laughed at it and even attempted to do the same. Several times Harry had reflexively dropped 'into' his own shadow.

The first time that it happened Valkyrie was called because Harry hadn't appeared and neither Harley or Pamela knew where he'd gone. She had simply asked to be shown where Harry had vanished from, already suspecting what had happened. When Harley showed here where he'd vanished from, his room in the shadows next to the open door she had simply smiled and stuck her head into the shadow.

"Hello Harry." She smiled at the distressed and trapped boy as she offered him her hand. "I see we've decided to advance your training without your teacher present."

Harry grabbed the hand and was pulled out of the shadow.

Harley held onto him for all she was worth for an hour after that happened.

"The ability isn't _that_ advanced, so to speak. Harry has already used the ability to great lengths." She told the now non-panicking couple.

"The ability that he displayed, so to speak, is the same one that allows all that control the shadows to travel through them to another location. By knowing the location or having a strong emotional attachment to it we can travel through shadows to the place we wish to be, or simply stay within the shadow like Harry did."

"But how come he didn't come out?" Pamela asked.

"Because of the way he entered, accidentally as he did, and his emotions afterwards from being in a place that he didn't know, he was unable to open a doorway out of the shadow."

"How does that work?" Harley asked. "If he can enter then he should be able to exit, right?"

Valkyrie nodded.

"That would be the case, normally. But because he fell into the shadow and didn't walk into it like he'd normally do, the entrance between the shadows and this world wasn't stable enough for him to simply walk out of. I am just thankful that he was contained within the shadow and that it was still there when I arrived."

Pamela and Harley blinked.

"What do you mean?" They asked simulations.

Valkyrie cleared her throat.

The air in the room grew heavy.

"I'll keep this simple, for all our sakes." She began.

She knew that with those words that she held the trio's whole attention.

"The realm of the shadows, and the normal world are alike but they are different in many ways. Where the world that we live in, the world of light, to give it a name, is solid and defined by shape and size, the world of shadows is not. The shadows can only exist in the absence of light. By that rule, that law. The world of shadows and darkness can only exist in the absence of the world of light."

Harry had no clue what she was saying, and neither did Harley, but Pamela's eyes widened.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she questioned.

Pamela's dark lush green skin was a visibly lighter shade of green.

Valkyrie nodded once.

"The realm of shadows can only exist when light is not shined on it." Valkyrie answered "So if the door had been closed, even for a split second, and the shadow erased. Then Harry would have been trapped within the shadow-" Valkyrie's eyes showed great sadness as she spoke "- and there would be nothing that I could do to bring him back from there."

Her eyes locked onto Harry's, he could see the sadness that was there.

"Harry would have been stuck within the shadows, unable to find his way out. Lost to everyone. He would have-"

Valkyrie had to stop herself from speaking as tears started to gather at the edge of her eye.

"Tomorrow, Harry and I will train so that he will be able to control when and if he wants to enter the shadows. But if he ever drops into the shadow you need to make sure that nothing, and I mean _nothing_ , erases the shadow."

The seriousness of the statement was not lost on all three.

Harley's arms tightened around Harry, as if it would keep him away from the shadows completely and would result in him never being put into that position again.

* * *

One day after school Harry, having nothing better to do since Harley and Pamela had been locked away in Arkham, though not for the first time since he'd been living with them, he was living with Selena for the time being, as was the arrangement that had been worked out years ago. Harry decided that he'd take the chance to go visit Selena at work. He ran to the apartment, dropped his bag onto the couch, which was also his bed at the time, he walked over to the nearest shadow and placed his hand on the shard of darkness.

He focused on where he wanted to go, using his magic to connect a road of shadows to Selena's office at Gotham museum, where she was coordinating an exhibit for an upcoming auction. It was a lengthy process, so to speak, as he was unable to solidify a piece of shadow to move through he had to use already existing shadows. Unfortunately, that meant that he'd need to make several stops along the way.

Once he had a connection established he felt the doorway between the two open and stepped through, a feeling like walking through slime washed over him, he stepped out onto an empty rooftop and shuddered.

"I'm still not comfortable with that." He thought aloud.

"It was interesting to say the least."

Harry spun around and his eyes shot wide open.

"Bats!" he yelped as he scrambled back.

Batman looked at the boy and raised an eyebrow, not that it was easy to see through his mask.

"You've taken after your mother I see." He commented.

Harry scowled at the perceived insult.

"They're both open with me when I ask about you." He replied carefully getting to his feet.

"Then how about you answer some questions of mine." Batman stepped forward.

Harry stepped back.

"I'm not really in the talkative mood today, I'm afraid." He replied calmly as he reached into the enchanted pouch that he kept with him. "And mum insisted-" he froze for a moment. "You'd call her Ivy, I guess. Anyway, she insisted that I don't talk to strangers."

Batman watched calmly as he saw the young bespectacled boy reaching into his back pocket, a twitch of his fingers saw a Bat-a-rang slipped out and into his hand. The sound of the metal sliding out caused Harry's eyes to lock onto the weapon.

Harry revealed the object that he was retrieving from the pouch.

A pair of dark goggles, not dissimilar to one's worn by welders that chose not to wear face-masks.

Batman's jaw tightened when he saw the goggles. As if he was scolding himself mentally for thinking that he would have drawn a weapon just because he was raised, to a point, by Harley and Pamela.

"What else have they told you?" He questioned.

Harry smirked as he placed the goggles on his head and removed his glasses as the goggles covered his eyes.

"They've told me many things; that no matter what they'll love me, I'll always have a place with them no matter what pathway in life I choose and, most importantly, if I ever run into you." Harry gave the dark knight a toothy sneer "If I ever cross paths with you I should always do my best to either run away, kick your butt or embarrass you.

"I know that I'm not going to be able to beat you, I haven't got anything that I can use to embarrass you, so that leaves only running away." Harry admitted. "I don't know about you, but I am pretty talented at running away from scary people, like you."

Without waiting for an answer, the young black-haired boy took off running, heading for the edge of the building. He could make out the powerful steps from Batman's booted feet as he chased after Harry. He didn't look back. It would only ruin the speed that he'd build up to make the jump. He pushed himself forward, knowing that Batman was bigger than he was and would be able to catch him easier he poured everything into his speed.

His foot had barely touched the ledge of the building before Harry leapt over the gap of the alley.

"No!" Batman shouted, thinking that Harry wouldn't make the jump.

Normally he would be right.

But Harry had been learning with Harley, Selena, Pamela and Valkyrie's assistance.

Harley taught him basic gymnastics, which allowed him greater flexibility.

Pamela used her abilities to grow thick vines that Harry would be able to leap on, climb, navigate and jump from, she also made several soft plant-surfaces that he'd be able to land on.

Selena taught him how to move in an urban area, teaching him how to vault over objects, disperse his momentum by changing a fall into a roll. She was a stickler for the Safety Vault, a move that allowed for great versatility in movement while also allowing Harry the ability to stop his move before running off a building or ledge.

Valkyrie worked with Harry to move around, teaching him how to improve all over, though she was also there as to shadow Harry, literally at most times, she also ran with him over several courses that Pamela made, she also made several courses with some creative transfiguration.

Harry's arms and legs pinwheeled forward, moving his momentum forward more, though it was somewhat scientific the fact he was moving his arms and legs was because he wasn't even sure he would be able to reach the other building.

He was right.

Harry's speed only allowed him to grip the edge of the building's roof.

As he was about to land Harry brought his legs up towards his chest, keeping the muscles loose and ready to absorb the impact from the landing. His feet slammed into the building as his hands slapped down on the building's edge, his fingers gripping the ledge. He used the momentum that he'd gained to push himself up and over the ledge, securing himself on the building across the alley. As he stood up he looked across the several meters gap and saw a somewhat shocked Batman standing there.

Seeing the look that Batman was giving him Harry shrugged.

"When you've got it, you've got it." he mocked.

Offering Batman a wave he ran to where he could see the building's roof access door. He was thankful that it was unlocked as he slipped inside, he quickly connected to the doors interior shadow and stepped through just as he heard the door being yanked roughly open. He knew that Batman would have seen him stepping through the shadow, he had a cheeky smirk on his face as he exiting the slim-like shadow and out of the alley next to Gotham Museum. He quickly replaced his goggles with his glasses, thanking Valkyrie mentally for the enchantments that were placed on it that allowed him to see as if he was wearing his prescription glasses, he entered the building.

He was greeted to the sight of the regular security guard on shift.

"Hi Louis." Harry greeted the partially disabled guard.

"Harry." He smiled warmly. "How's your day?"

"Same old, same old." Harry replied. "Yours?"

Louis shrugged "The same as any other I'd suppose. Your Aunt has been working all day, nearly forgot to have lunch before I reminded her when I took her the cup of tea like you suggested."

Harry shook his head.

"When Aunt Selena gets involved with a big project she gives it her all, the last time it happened she was forced to stay in the hospital for a week just to recover from the stress she put herself under."

Louis chuckled at the young boy.

"That just means that she loves what she does and it also means that we need to keep an eye on her."

Harry nodded at what the old man told him.

Louis was a kind man; he and Harry had had many conversations over the course of time that Harry had been coming to the museum. Selena often had different things that required her to go to the museum, though it was mostly in regards to fundraisers, high society functions and other such events, on several of those occasions Harry was fortunate, or rather unfortunate, enough to be taken along with her. He had met Louis at several of those parties and the two had struck up an odd friendship.

"Here we are." Louis nodded to the door that they were standing in front of.

Harry looked at the door. The plaque simply read ' _Acquisitions_ ', he knew that this would be where Selena was working out of.

"I don't know, I mean, you'd think that there wouldn't be _that_ many things we'd have to set up for them." Harry heard an unknown woman's voice. It had a strange accent that he couldn't place, but it was easy to tell that it wasn't something that he'd find in Gotham.

"I know, but if everything isn't set up the right way then everything will fall to us, all the blame and all the negative comments will be pointed in our direction."

That was Selena, he'd recognize her voice anywhere. He wanted to ask Louis about who she was talking to, but the guard had already made his way down towards his desk at the front entrance.

Knowing that he had a 'Walk right in' Authority with his aunt when she was working… when she was legally working, that is, he opened the door and walked inside.

"It's not my fault that the minister wanted to change everything at the last moment, as soon as he heard that the fundraiser was being promoted by Gotham's elite, or more specifically, Bruce Wayne, he wanted to make a lasting impression." The newcomer stopped what she was doing and looked at where Harry was standing, clearly having felt the breeze when he'd opened the door.

"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing here?" the stranger asked, her tone was agitated.

Her dark hair was tied back in a respectable ponytail, as to keep her hair out of the way while she worked, she wore a wine-red blouse that was tucked into her black slacks finished off with a pair of black leather shoes. Everything about her shouted professional and educated. But there was something different about her that Harry couldn't pick out.

"Harry?" Selena's voice came from behind an artifact that they had been looking at.

"Aunt Selena." Harry smiled in greeting.

"Do you know this little boy?" The black-haired stranger asked, looking at where Selena's voice came from."

Selena appeared form behind the artifact.

"Yeah, he's my nephew and he's also staying with me for the next week or so while his parents are out of town." She told the lady, before looking at Harry. "Shouldn't you be at school Harry?"

"School finished an hour ago Aunt Selena." Harry replied.

Selena blinked in confusion.

"It's only half passed- oh…" Selena looked at the clock on the wall, clearly thinking that it was still nearly lunch time. She looked at Harry and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry baby, I've been so caught up in my work. The French minister wanted to make sure that everything was correct-"

"And he's been putting pressure on you to make things better than they realistically be." Harry finished nodding. "I heard through the door, you were being pretty loud."

He then realized that he was being somewhat rude and needed to introduce himself.

"Hi. I'm Harry Potter-Kyle." He introduced himself to the other lady that Selena was working with, offering her his hand.

The stranger raised an eyebrow but introduced herself.

"Diana Prince, I am an Antiquities Dealer from the Louvre in Paris, I am also the ambassador for the French Government." She greeted back, still somewhat cold towards Harry but she still shook his hand regardless.

The now identified Diana breathed a single word when she touched Harry's hand, though she must have thought that Harry wouldn't have heard her, and he wouldn't have, normally, but he was focused on her so intently.

" _μαγοϛ_ "  
[ _Wizard]_

He quickly, and as politely as he could, took his hand back. Harry nodded, mostly because there was nothing that he could say towards that. He looked back at Selena.

"Louis said that he had to bring you Lunch again." He said pointedly.

Selena looked away awkwardly.

"I told you not to get so focused on work you forget to eat again, you remember last time?" He asked. Diana could tell that he wasn't actually asking a question. "The last time you did that you passed out because you forgot to eat or drink anything unless I brought it to you and you ended up in the hospital."

Selena was honest enough with herself to blush as she looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said defensively.

"Uh Huh." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Wise ass." Selena retorted.

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Diana.

"She only does this when she knows that she's lost." He grinned cheekily.

Diana smirked as she returned to her work. Selena gathered herself and realized that Harry had bested her once more.

"Why are you here anyway Harry?" She asked.

He followed her over to the desk that she was working at and sat on a chair.

"I've got nothing better to do today." He replied.

"Why not go train with Valkyrie?" She asked.

He shook his head "I don't know where she lives, she doesn't work at the academy and I don't have her number."

Selena nodded as she went over some of the notes on the desk.

"The Greenhouse?"

"Everything was taken care of, I don't need to go there until tomorrow. I have a blank period tomorrow after lunch which I can use to go and take care of the plants that need to be taken care of."

Selena nodded.

"Want to help?" She asked, knowing that there was a decent chance that Harry would be interested in helping her work.

"Sure" Harry shrugged, with that Diana and Selena had themselves an assistant for the afternoon.

Everything was going well for a while, Harry mostly just assisted in carrying objects from one location to the other, organizing the notes that Diana and Selena made while making sure that they were both communicating what they were doing to each other after they both attempted to move something from one place, where it had needed to be, to another position, where the other believed that it needed to be, the confusion was mildly hilarious at best and annoying at worst. The most interesting thing that happened during the afternoon was when Diana received a phone call from a contact in the Louvre.

" _Bonjour, Diana Prince ... Ministre, comment allez-vous? ... Oui, tout sera terminé ... Je comprends ... Puis-je demander pourquoi? ... Savez-vous combien de personnes ils ... Eh bien, je demanderais poliment que vous rappeliez à Madame Delacour que j'ai été nommée ambassadrice de la collection car c'est moi qui ai le plus d'expérience avec la collection, les pièces et leurs histoires respectives. Si elle sait quelque chose que je ne sais pas sur les pièces elle est plus que bienvenue pour m'en informer et ne pas aller derrière mon dos pour m'évincer de ma position durement gagnée, surtout quand la collecte de fonds est prévue dans les deux prochains jours ... Je vois ... très bien ... S'il te plaît, dis-lui ça, et que je serai plus qu'heureux de la remettre à sa place quand je reviendrai dans une semaine et demie. Oh, s'il te plaît, rappelle-lui que je ne la tolèrerai pas de changer les expositions pour satisfaire ses désirs égoïstes ... Merci beaucoup, bonne journée._ "  
[Hello, Diana Prince... Minister, how are you?... Yes, everything will be completed-... I understand... May I ask why?... Do you know how many people they-... Well, i would politely ask that you remind Lady Delacour that I was appointed the ambassador for the collection as I am the one with the most experience with the collection, the pieces and their respective histories. If she knows something that i do not about the pieces she is more than welcome to inform me of that and not go behind my back to evict me from my hard-earned position, especially when the Fundraiser is scheduled to happen within the next two days... I see... very well... Please do tell her that, and that i will be more than happy to put her in her place when I return in a week and a half. Oh, please remind her that I will not tolerate her changing the exhibits around to suit her selfish desires...Thank you very much, have a nice day.]

Without thinking, or giving Selena a chance to speak, Harry spoke.

"Est-ce que tout va bien Mlle Prince?"  
[Is everything ok Miss Prince?]

Diana replied without missing a beat.

"Oui, un de mes collègues croyait que leur nom devrait leur permettre de dicter la façon dont le monde fonctionne."  
[Yes, just one of my colleagues believed that their name should allow them the right to dictate the way that the world works.]

Diana looked over at Harry.

"Est-ce que votre tante a fini avec les arrangements de sièges?"  
[Has your aunt finished with the seating arrangements?]

Harry rifled through some of the papers that were scattered over the bench he was seated at before finding the piece of paper that he was looking for.

"C'est ici. Vous êtes assis avec le ministre français, le chef de la Fondation avec quelques-unes des personnes les plus influentes, comme Bruce Wayne, le Dr Thomas Elliot et Samantha Vanaver."  
[Here it is. You're seated with the French Minister, the Head of the Foundation along with some of the more influential people, such as Bruce Wayne, Dr Thomas Elliot, and Samantha Vanaver.]

Selena looked at the two in shock. The main reason being that they were conversing, easily in French, which she didn't know Harry knew, they were both cutting her out of the conversation, which was just plain rude and there was also the fact that Harry was speaking a language that he had never mentioned that he was studying, he had mentioned that they were going to learn other languages in the coming months at Gotham Elementary, they would then learn more when they followed on to Gotham High.

"Can you two please speak English, I speak some French but I'm not fluent enough to follow what you're talking about." She bemoaned.

"Nous parlons français?" Harry asked, confused.  
[We're speaking French?"]

"Oui, et vous parlez couramment, je dois admettre que je suis plutôt surpris." Diana replied.  
[Yes, and you speak it fluently, I must admit I am rather surprised.]

Harry just blinked in shock.

"I don't even know French." Harry muttered, clearly confused about how he'd been able to converse in another language as if he was a natural at it.

Selena's phone rang out with the familiar klaxon sound that she used for the secondary phone number that she had listed and shared to few people as an emergency number, when the Klaxon number, as Harry had called it, rang out both their heads snapped towards the phone. Diana seemed to realize that something was wrong and didn't speak, but she was paying attention to them.

"Hello?" Selena said as she answered the phone. "Valkyrie."

Selena looked at Harry and saw that he was paying attention to the phone call.

"We're at the Museum, I'm working on an exhibit… Yes, he's here with me. What's going on?" she asked. "Yes, we can be out the front in two minutes. Do we need anything?"

Harry didn't know what was being said but he was able to understand that there was something going on and that he'd need his things.

"Alright, we'll be outside in a minute." Selena hung up the phone and grabbed her bag. "Harry, get your things."

Harry nodded but didn't say anything, he just picked up everything that he'd been using and started placing it back where he'd gotten it from.

"What's happening?" Diana asked.

Selena tensed and considered what she could tell her.

"There are a group of people that have been after Harry in the past, when he was able to get away from them in the past he found another group that were working to help him and others that the group was after, I gave my emergency number to the person that helped Harry and she called just then to tell us that the people that were looking for him were close so we need to regroup with the group to make sure that they don't find Harry." Selena told her.

"Do you need any help?" Diana asked her, suspicious but caring.

"No, it would be better if we didn't get you involved in what happens. Everything should workout and I'll be back here in the morning for work."

"Bye Miss Diana." Harry called out as they both rushed out the door leaving Diana alone in the work space, neither of them seeing her narrowing her eyes in both suspicion and concern about the two of them.

* * *

Harry and Selena rushed out of the museum, spotting Valkyrie standing outside with a car waiting for them. She just nodded towards the open door and watched the surrounding area to ensure that they were safe. As soon as Harry and Selena were in the car she looked around, meeting the eyes of all the other members of the surveillance squad that she had brought with her for added protection. The school's main concern is the fact that Harry was a shadow elemental, while other elementals were important and uncommon in and of themselves, shadow elementals that had similar abilities to Harry's were of great concern to them, hence the fact that there was an entire security squad there to ensure that he was secured.

Once Harry and Selena were inside the car and she had received the 'all clear' signal from the other members of the squad she slid into the passenger seat and they started driving.

 _BZZZTT BZZZZTT_

 _BZZZTT BZZZZTT_

Valkyrie reached into the interior pocket of her jacket, revealing a phone.

"Cain." She answered.

Neither Selena or Harry wasn't able to hear what was being said.

"Everything is under control."

She listened to the person on the other end give one worded answers to what the person was asking. Then something was said that made Valkyrie stop and listen completely to what the other person was saying.

"Where were they seen?" she asked tensely.

She listened for several moments before her whole body tensed.

"Ok, I'm going to bring him to the academy early. Organize a transfer from Gotham Public to McCallum, I know the original plan was to transfer him at the end of the year, as agreed by the parents, but it's better if we get him away from _them_ as soon as possible." Valkyrie instructed.

"If _they_ get their hands on him while he's so untrained then there will be nothing that we can do, especially not with one of them being so well known that we can't get our hands on him."

The person on the other end seemed to be agreeing with what she had said and was giving her some additional information that she didn't like. She hung up the phone with an angry press of a button. She let out a deep breath as she placed the phone back into her pocket.

"I'm sorry about this Harry." She said. "I don't like keeping secrets from you, or anyone that has things that they need to know. But there are things that I know you aren't ready to know about just yet, mostly because I can tell that you'd want to get involved and you need to learn how to control your own abilities for the time being.

"But if you'll trust me, then when the time comes I'll give you all the information that I can't give you right now and more."

She twisted in her seat so that she could look at Harry, who seemed to be considering what she said.

"So, what can you tell me?" he asked.

She gave him a small smile.

"Well, as I told your parents and aunt, there's a group of people that think what the academy teaches is wrong, they believe that everyone that can use magic should do what they tell them, and live by their rules. Unfortunately, the ways that they do things is wrong, which is something I can't tell you yet.

"After what happened between you and the Joker around the time you first arrived in Gotham, They heard about what happened and started looking for you. Aegis and the academy worked together to protect you, and many others, from them. Sadly, they got their hands on someone that worked with the group the academy uses to approach magical children, not unlike yourself.

"Because they were able to get their hands on him, they know the address' of several children that were going to start at the academy next year and the year after. So now we need to have you start sooner because it's not safe for you to go back to your normal school."

Harry's eyes widened. He liked his school, his friends, his teacher Mr. Walker was there.

But he understood.

* * *

Selena and Harry accompanied Valkyrie through the shadows to McCallum academy, they appeared in the apparition port, as it was the only place that they were 'supposed' to appear and there were also guards there that worked for Valkyrie.

When they appeared, Valkyrie checked the two over, just to make sure that they were alright after travelling so far through the shadows. Harry was fine though he was a little lightheaded for a few seconds as he got his equilibrium back. Selena's mind was slightly jumbled after going from such a warm climate, since it was the way that Pamela liked her Greenhouse to be for her Babies to grow, to a rather chilled and airy room. It took a calming charm and a stern look to get her cantered again.

Once they were both focused they realized that Valkyrie was now radiating power and control as she was barking orders and storming through the hall that was connected to the apparition port.

"Harry, Selena. Follow me." Valkyrie instructed.

Without another word the two followed.

They watched as Valkyrie barked commands to the members of the school's security guards, when they were walking for what seemed to be forever Valkyrie finished giving out orders and slowed down enough so that she was walking in line with Harry and Selena.

"I'm sorry about that." She began.

"As you could more than likely guess, all of the guards here are Magical. For the most part they are all able to use Wand Magic, which you will learn during your time at the school. Most, if not all, of the staff are Magical in some way or gifted in others.

"What I haven't really told you is that McCallum is but one face of the academy's greater whole. The McCallum, is Gotham City's point of access for the larger academy, and the ever-expanding community that we have.

"The academy started as a place where people with Magic, for people with all kinds of magical and non-Magical powers, that includes the people that develop superpowers akin to the 'heroes' that have appeared in cities all around the country. The academy and city surrounding it, is home to people that feel the need to hide away from the Non-Magical, or Non-powered, people. While there are many people that work and live in the city there are still people that live in Gotham and other cities around America.

"As I mentioned, Gotham is one of the access points. But Gotham also acts as the access point for several cities in this part of America. We also have access points in New York, Las Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco, Central city, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Florida, New Orleans and Chicago, amongst the countless other, smaller, access points. In each of those cities there are places, such as McCallum Academy, where a select amount of people can enter and exit from. This is mostly to prevent people that were looking for Harry and the other students from getting what they want."

"I want to know what that is." Selena cut in.

Valkyrie nodded.

"There are things that I can't answer, but at the same time there are things that are better if they are heard from other people, but I will answer what I can, as best as I can." She replied.

"The people that were looking for Harry, as I said earlier, believe that they are the superior magic users. This is because they have existed since Atlantis fell into the Ocean, there is no real proof of this, but there have always been people capable of Magic so there's no real way of denying it. They believe that people like us, Magicals that use Magical foci such as wands and staffs, are a further offshoot to them and naturally weaker because of it.

"I'm not really the best person to explain all the detailed things but I do know that they are strong and know how to use Magic in ways that we can't replicate." Valkyrie admitted.

To Harry and Selena, it sounded like what the mysterious group were saying was true, it seemed like the magical people that Harry belonged to were weaker than the people that wanted to control them.

"But don't get me wrong." Valkyrie continued. "We can do amazing things that they are unable to do. For example; Not a single one of them are naturally able to use the elements like Harry and I can. There are countless studies in Magical fields that they are unable to use, but there are similarities to our groups, which is what they are basing everything on."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

Valkyrie looked at Harry and smiled softly, as if it was the right question to ask.

It was.

"For the most part we can be considered users of Linguistic Magic, that use wands and other foci to refine our magic." Valkyrie replied, she expanded on this when the pair just stared at her.

"Linguistic Magic is the power to use magic by using words from certain languages. When people say 'Certain Languages' it means that many old languages, and ones considered to be dead, such as Latin, Nordic, Ancient Greek, Coptic, Sanskrit, plus many more, hold power within them. So, when they are used by people like us, Linguistic Magic users, we can draw on the magic behind them to perform spells."

Selena rubbed her head, a headache forming, as they walking out of the building that they were in and into a garden.

"I'm confused." Harry voiced Selena's thought.

They sat on a bench and Valkyrie explained further.

"Ok, you've both seen Phoebe perform Magic, correct?"

She received two nods.

"What spell did she show you Selena?"

Selena shrugged "I don't remember what she said, but she made a group of Butterflies appear out of nowhere."

Valkyrie nodded. "I know that one. The spell is a somewhat basic and advanced one, I say basic because it's not a very complicated spell to perform. It's an advanced spell because of the type of magic that it is."

"What kind is it?" Harry asked.

"Conjuration, making something from seemingly nothing. Conjuration is an advanced type of magic that has very different rules for everything that you want to conjure, there are rules in the magic, like how long the object or creature remain before they fade away.

"The Incantation, or spell, is **Papilio** , this is branched off from the French word _Papillon_. The person that performs the spell can control several aspects of the spell, such as the amount of butterfly's, general colour and a small amount of what they will do. You could also perform the spell in German, Russian, English or any other known language, but unless the language naturally has magic through it the spell won't work."

"You just contradicted yourself, you just said that you could do the spell in any language then said that it wouldn't work." Selena pointed out.

"I did and I didn't." Valkyrie countered. "There are common languages that people use every day, French being one of them, back when the Romans were in power Latin was the same, it's the same with Gaelic, these languages have magic throughout them, no one knows why exactly, but unless the language used has magic in it magic cannot be performed."

Selena and Harry were still confused.

"It would be better if you were told this by an actual teacher that teaches spell theory instead of me." Valkyrie admitted. "Anyway, back to the point, these different Languages allow people like us to perform Magic, Linguistic Magic. There are near limitless amounts of different Magic that we can learn and while the academy teaches Linguistic Magic, or Wand Magic as it's commonly referred to, there are many varieties of Magicals that attend the academy and because of that there are many other classes and Magic that we can learn."

"Like Elemental Magic?" Harry asked.

Valkyrie nodded. "That's one type of magic that we developed. As Phoebe explained to your Mothers a while ago there is also a type of Magic, which was created fairly recently compared to other types, called TechnoMagic. This is the use of technology to perform Magic, through the use of Special devices called CAD, or Cast Assistant Devices. Within the same scope of magic there are two branches that have developed.

"There is the main branch of TechnoMage's that use advanced Mathematics, such as Physics and things I can't even pronounce, to create spells and use them to great lengths. Then there is the minor Branch, this group uses what they call 'Magic Apps' spells that have been premade and then been modified to be used with the CAD.

"It has been attracting Magical people for years since it was made, but there are many other types of Magic that you can learn while you are here. Some of the most notable classes are; Healing Arts, Potion Making, Shamanism, Language and Symbols, ritual magic, Blood Magic, Wiccan studies, Grimoire Magic, Voodoo, Enchanting, Alchemy, Puppet Magic, Music, spirit magic, Summoning and countless others that I can't even begin to describe."

"And I get to learn them all?" Harry asked with childlike joy.

"Hang on a second Harry." Selena cut him off before turning back to Valkyrie. "Not that this doesn't sound amazing and all, what about regular non-Magical classes like English, Math, Science and things like that."

"We teach them too, actually that's some of the main classes that Harry will be taking over the next year or two. He'll continue to have English and Maths throughout most of his education, like many others, but He'll also learn the basics of other Magical studies at the same time. Some classes like Potions for example, he will take at the same time, they tend to not start making actual potions for several months so that they learn all the basics and safety procedures, even when they begin to make potions they'll only make basic simple potions and work from there."

Selena seemed content about what was being said, happy that Harry will still be learning everything that he needed to learn.

They spoke about the academy for a while before Selena realized something and asked Valkyrie a question.

"How are we supposed to pay for everything? I'm reasonably sure that you, more than likely, use a different form of currency than we do in Gotham." She said.

Valkyrie nodded.

"You're right, and there have been people that have wanted to change that, but the Goblins and the Prime Minister of Magic believe that it would cause issues since we've used the same currency as the rest of the magical communities throughout the world."

"What currency do you use?" Selena asked.

"We use a somewhat Medieval method, so to speak. We have a three-coin Currency; Bronze Knuts, Silver Sickles and Gold Galleons. A Knut equals one cent. A Sickle is equal to twenty-eight cents. A Galleon is Four dollars and eighty-one cents. One of each total $5.10." Valkyrie explained.

She smiled when it was clear that they were having a hard time understanding it.

"Don't worry, it will be easier over time."

They were about to continue talking when they heard a familiar voice.

"Catsie? Hare-Bear? What are you guys doing here?"

The duo looked at the source of the voice.

"Mom?" Harry questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Selena didn't even get a chance to speak when Harley swooped Harry up into a large hug.

"My baby boy, I missed you." She cooed as she kissed Harry repeatedly.

Eventually she placed him down and took a seat on the bench, with Harry on her lap.

"I was putting some money into the bank for Harry, since we found out that he was magical I've been putting money away for when he needed to come to school." She told them.

They were both surprised at what Harley was saying as they had never expected Harley to do something so…well…Normal, for one thing, and also for thinking so far forward for Harry's education and life.

"Plus, it helps that the little Goblins that run the banks don't care that I'm a criminal, as long as I put money into the vault and they get to play around with all the gold they're happy." She said with a grin, then she must have realized that something was off. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Miss Cain came to see me after my magic started playing up." Harry said meekly.

Harley kissed the top of Harry's head.

"But its all better now yeah?" she asked.

Harry nodded "It's better now, but there are times when it feels like it's trying to get away from me."

Harley rested her chin on his head.

"Don't worry about that, you'll learn how to control it." she said to him.

Harry wrapped his arms around her and held tight.

"So how long have you been coming here Harley?"

"It's been a while, but it wasn't this place I was coming to. This is just the way in." She told her. "C'mon I'll show ya."

Valkyrie smirked but remained silent as she rose from her seat and followed the trio, Harley was talking away at high speeds about various things that neither Selena or Valkyrie were able to understand or even have the chance to reply to her about. Although Harry seemed to be able to slip a word in every now and then that would get Harley to stop and listen to what he was saying, though what they were talking about was anyone's guess.

"Mum, when did you get out of Arkham?" Harry asked, because Valkyrie knew who Harley and Pamela really were he didn't need to hide the fact that they were criminals and that they both tended to be sent to Arkham.

Harley shrugged while holding Harry.

"I broke out of the cell earlier today, I was going to pick you up in the morning before school but when I heard what was happening I decided that it would be better if I came and met you here." She told him, placing a kiss on his head.

* * *

As the group walked through the academy, which was a rather pleasant walk considering Harry and Harley mostly spoke to each other and forgot that Selena and Valkyrie were even there in the first place. Selena had been able to ask questions about several things that had been 'odd' to her about what she was seeing, especially questioning why there were strolling through the academy when they were in such a rush to get there in the first place.

Valkyrie explained that they were only walking through the academy at such a sedated pace because they were no longer in the same amount of danger as they had been in when they were at the Botanical Gardens.

Selena also questioned this.

"It's because of the wardie things." Harley cut in, her conversation with Harry seemingly over. "Its like a wall made of magic that stops people from coming and going unless they're on a special list or they have something that lets them in, which Harry will get."

Selena was curious, thankfully Valkyrie spoke next explaining what Harley was talking about.

"Every student, parent, staff member or person who lives and works at the academy itself or around it, are given a special charm or token that lets them go through the wards that protect the academy. It's mostly so we can keep track of people but there are times when we need to have the wards at dangerous levels as to protect the entrances."

"You keep saying entrances and exits, and you mentioned that McCallum was one of them, but you never explained what they were entrances to." Selena pointed out.

Valkyrie nodded as they approached a large wooden door that had four guards, two on either side, at the ready. Harry and Selena were nervous about the door and guards but Valkyrie and Harley didn't seem to be worried about them.

When the three stopped Valkyrie kept walking, and came to stand in front of the group.

"Harry. Selena. I'd like to welcome you…"

Two of the guards stepped forward and gripped the large handles of the door.

"To Roselea Academy of the Magical Arts."

The two guards opened the door and the group of three were bathed in warm sunlight as they walked forward through the door.

Selena and Harry let out an audible gasp when they realized where they stood.

They were standing on a grass covered hill over looking a bustling metropolis of magic. The buildings were analogous of the classical buildings Harry had seen in England, before he'd appeared in Gotham. There were buildings that were akin to the more modern buildings that they saw in Gotham itself. The large buildings with somewhat dark and gothic appearance looked like they had been taken from Gotham itself while there were also buildings that seemed more in place within a more modern city like London itself, or another of the American cities that Harry had seen images of, such as Metropolis, New York and Los Angeles.

While the buildings looked similar to different cities all mashed together, it was clear that there was a design to them, all the buildings looked old and well worn by time and weather. If Selena didn't know any better she would have thought that the buildings had been taken from the cities themselves.

"What you are seeing is mostly the residential areas, most, if not all, of the people that live within Roselea Academy City, which is commonly referred to as Academy City for simplicities sake, are Magical or have powers of some kind."

"Are you talking about Metahumans?" Selena's head snapped around to look at Valkyrie.

Valkyrie nodded.

"When Metahumans started to appear, we thought that they were magical, as some actually came from magical families, but we were wrong. Magic and the Metahuman Gene cannot exist in the same body. It's something that we have been puzzling over for a while, the common thought is that metahumans are another offshoot of the original Homo-Sapiens, regular humans, like Magicals are categorized as."

"What are you thought to be Homo-Magician? Hocus-Sapiens? Homo-Magi?"

A dark look crossed Valkyrie's eye.

"A small tip about being around here, Selena." Valkyrie's voice was hard. "Do _not_ call anyone here, by _that_ name."

Selena gulped.

"I'm sorry." She quickly said.

"See that you remember that." Valkyrie said taking a deep breath and calming herself.

"Anyway, as I was saying, after we discovered that Metahumans were appearing throughout cities in America we did our best to find ones that were lost, hurt or looking for somewhere to call home, or just somewhere that they didn't have to hide. After a while more people started appearing, Magicals were accepted into the academy when their families kicked them out for their ability. Many chose to remain here after they completed studying and expand the city as they did. Eventually the academy grew with its students and more students brought more variety of Magic with them, leading to more classes and students. It was an ever-increasing cycle.

"The academy has an astounding number of students, between the two different sides of the academy, the Magical and Non-Magical sides, there are over 50,000 students at the academy, spanning from Primary school all the way to university, we teach all kinds of classes that you would find in any other school throughout the country in the Non-Magical side, so you don't have to worry about Harry not learning anything that he cannot use when he leaves the academy."

As Valkyrie spoke they started walking down the hill towards the entrance to the town, where they were looked at with a mix od curiosity, intrigue and some distrust.

"The Magical side of the Academy is actually spread out throughout the entirety of the campus, there are a few buildings that teach different things, though the buildings where classes are held are gathered in a centralized location, surrounding the main school building, the Non-Magical school. IT was designed like this because the classes were originally held in the one building with support buildings being built around it as time went on, before the school dorms were added and then additional residences were built. Following that a small shop was built to sell supplies needed for school.

"As everything grew new buildings kept being added, though when the first residential area was built it was positioned far enough away that the school could still expand as it needed, unimpeded from the growth of the residential. Eventually we grew to what you see today. The school itself is almost as large as and entire city district with the entirety of the space we've made for ourselves. If I'm right the last time we had a census we were almost as large, if not larger than, Cambridge, Massachusetts."

Selena was shocked, she had seen how spread out everything was and it didn't seem that big.

Harley and Harry on the other hand were having an exciting time of their own, surprisingly Harley was rather well behaved as they walked through the residential area. Uncaring of all the different things that were being said, caring only about Harry and how much he liked the city since he was able to walk freely with Harley without her having to wear some kind of disguise.

* * *

"So, what's this area called?" Harry asked Harley.

Valkyrie cut in before Harley could say anything.

"This is the Magic shopping district, over time everything related to the shopping of Magical items seemed to center themselves in small areas of their own."

Though she said 'Small' the building that they were looking at seemed more akin to a large shopping center, larger than anything that Harry had seen throughout Gotham over the years.

"This is where you will purchase most of your school supplies and magical needs. But first things first, you need to take the test to see what focus you're able to use." Valkyrie said.

"Test?" Harry asked.

Valkyrie nodded "It's a test that all students take when they come to the academy, there's nothing that you need to worry about when you take the test, just trust your instincts and you'll be fine."

"Where does he need to take the test?" Harley asked.

"Up at the academy." She replied. "But since it'll take some time before the academy has the testing area set up, since there are numerous others that will be tested today as well."

"So how long do we have to explore?" Harley asked gleefully.

"Plenty of time." She replied.

As soon as the last syllable was voiced Harley sped off with Harry.

* * *

An hour of fun and excitement for Harry and Harley saw the group walking through Academy City streets, Harley was fortunate that they were able to get their hands on a bottomless bag to hold the clothes that held all their shopping, of which there was a large assortment of clothes, interesting knickknacks that she thought were interesting, magical candies and a few objects that she was planning on adding to her Villain arsenal.

Eventually the group saw themselves walking through the academy gates, a wave of Magic washing over them.

"What was that?" Harley asked, this having been the first time that she had been to the academy itself instead of just the shops and areas surrounding it.

"That was the security ward, we've had you all listed for the day so that you can watch Harry's test, it was one of the things that we had to set up." Valkyrie explained.

"Where do we need to go for the tests?" Selena asked.

"Most of the tests are taken-" Valkyrie blinked when she saw a strange little creature came running towards her.

Harry, Selena and Harley all just stared at the creature that was running towards them, though Valkyrie didn't seem to be too worried, or surprised, about the creature. She just knelt down and greeted the creature.

"Hello Rocco."

The little creature that was identified as Rocco came to a stop and waved its little arm as if to say hello.

"Were you wandering around on your own? Greg doesn't like you wandering around on your own, you know that." She said sternly.

The little creature shook its head violently to the side, then made some kind of gesture that only Valkyrie recognized.

"Ok, so he sent you to give me something then."

Rocco nodded several times.

"OK, where is it?"

Rocco's stitched mouth unravelled on its own, which was an odd sight to see. Harley, Selena and Harry's eye bulged when they saw Valkyrie shamelessly place two fingers into the now unstitched mouth and dig around slightly before pulling out a roll of paper.

Valkyrie sighed "I wish he didn't make you do that all the time Rocco, I don't know how he made you but I'm the one that has to stitch you back together."

Valkyrie read through the letter and was clearly surprised at what she was seeing but didn't say anything. She rolled the piece of paper up and put it in her pocket before looking at Rocco.

"Are you heading back or are you going to stay with me?" she asked the creature.

Without waiting for an answer, if Rocco had the ability to speak in the first place, Rocco just ran forward from where it was standing and climbed up Valkyries clothes, finding itself a seat in her outer breast pocket.

"What is that?" Harley asked as she moved closer to poke Rocco.

Valkyrie slapped Harley's hand, causing her to jump back and hide behind Selena like a child.

"This is Rocco, he's a Voodoo Doll that has been made under a special ritual giving him a limited amount of consciousness, this lets him walk around and do things like a normal person or animal would, but at the same time he cannot decide to do things on his own." Valkyrie explained.

"This little guy was made by Greg, one of our Voodoo Professors. He's a little forgetful and somewhat helpless when it comes to various things, but he's a master of his craft. He's known to be one of the best Voodoo Practitioners within the Academy even though he was never taught by anyone within the Voodoo community until he had already immersed himself within the art."

"If he's so good why do you say he's helpless?" Selena asked.

"Because even though he's good at what he does, he's an Idiot Savant and incredibly forgetful." She replied.

The group just nodded but Harry was staring at the creature named Rocco, like he was trying to puzzle something out.

Valkyrie looked at the time on her watch.

"Come on we better get going or we're going to be late." She told the group.

As they started walking Harry voice a question that had been rattling around his head.

"So what kind of things will they test me on?"

Valkyrie thought for a moment before replying.

"You'll be tested to see if you're able to use a wand, which most people are able to do without worry, normally you would be able to take a test to see if you could learn Elemental Magic, but you can already do that, so we get to skip that.

"You can take a test to see if you are able to use any specialized classes, like Voodoo, Puppet Magic, Magical-Teleportation, Necromancy, Blood magic, Soul Magic, Thread Magic, Illusion Magic, Enchanting, Divination, Alchemy, Healing, Eastern Charm magic and Ritual Magic.

"Like I said earlier, there are many different classes that people can take, you can be tested for them all today or you can take a hand full of tests today and take others next time or after you've completed your other classes. Though you need to choose wisely there are some classes that need you to have certain skills and have learnt other classes before they will accept you, I know Necromancy and Soul Magic require a second year Blood Magic Pass before they will accept you as a student. Though there is one test that can only be taken once and normally they want people to wait until they are fifteen to take it, though there's no saying that you're not allowed to take it earlier or later, just a preferred age, but I don't think you should take it until you are fifteen anyway."

"What class is that?" Harry asked.

"Grimoire Magic." Valkyrie replied. "It's one of the strongest Magics that you can learn but at the same time it's very limited and restricted."

"How so?" Selena asked as they walked.

"It's restricted because of the number of spells that someone can learn when they study Grimoire magic. The number of spells that the grimoire has available to the user is based completely on the person, there have been studies, research and countless attempts to expand the number of spells that someone can use from the grimoire, even attempts at adding and sharing spells to the, but there have been no advancements in any of those attempts.

"Each Grimoire that is used has a certain element or focused area, like wood, metal, water or countless others, and as the person goes through life, gaining experience and understanding of themselves and the world, their grimoires evolve with them. Adding new spells and magic to themselves.

"Though it is limited, it is also one of the strongest types of magic that someone is able to learn."

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Mostly because the spells within Grimoires are able to be activated and used immediately, without preparation. It's like having a weapon in your pocket that no one is able to see or stop you from using unless you use it on them." she explained.

"I can see how that would be a problem." Selena commented.

"Where's yours?" Harley asked as she began looking Valkyrie over.

Valkyrie sighed and shook her head.

"I don't have one."

"Didn't you take the test to get one?" Harry asked innocently.

Valkyrie had a pained look in her eye.

"I took the test." She replied "But I wasn't chosen to get one. There are many people that take the test, either when they are fifteen or when they're older or younger, but not everyone is chosen to get a grimoire."

"Why not?" Harley asked.

Valkyrie shrugged "It's just one of the things that we don't know and have been looking to find out."

Conversation seemed to die out there and no one said anything else on the subject for the rest of the walk.

* * *

 **Hello everyone!**

 **I have been reading the reviews that people have been posting and I've realized just how far off from the original idea that I've had from the story I originally had I now am. As well as the fact that it has been pointed out that he is only Harry in Name only, and sadly i didn't realize that as I was writing.**

 **I am NOT, and i repeat NOT abandoning this story, but i will be making some changes to it.  
I'm taking it off the crossover section, which i should never have done in the first place.  
I will be bringing in the Potter Family, start working the dynamics for that...**

 **I have planned most of Harry's abilities out but the classes will be tricky to write out.**

 **For those that aren't sure where the grimoire idea is coming from, look up Black clover Both manga and Anime and you'l see what I'm trying to develop.**

 **People with ideas for grimoire types, let me know, i'd love to hear it.**

 **I have an idea about a plot point for Harry, sadly it involves time travel and movie crossovers... I kinda suck i know...**

 **I hope that people do like what i am doing with my story, though i know that there will be many that will look at my work and think i'm a tool... I think i am a tool some times as i go through it... either way all thoughts, reviews, flames and other such things are welcome. Any large insults and the like will be removed but other than that let me know what you think.**

 **One final thing...**

 **The name of the story 'DC Potter' will more than likely change, but i don't know what it will be. If people want to make a recommendation let me know.**


	8. Chapter 7

When Harry entered the testing room he was amazed at what he could see, when they walked into the building it wasn't anything special. It looked like any other building that he'd seen back at Gotham Elementary but when he walked into the testing area he, Selena and Harley all stopped when they saw all the magical things happening around them.

Spell lights were flying through the air, people were flying on brooms and carpets, large bookshelves lined one of the walls, there were magical creatures wondering around, Centaurs were wondering around, some were wearing leather armour others were wearing shirts, there were half-women half-bird like creatures, Harpies, if Harry remembered right, were wandering around and carrying things, mostly books. In one corner of the room Harry could see a man was sitting in front of a bookshelf which was filled with what looked like blocks of wood.

"Like what you see?" Valkyrie smirked as she saw their looks.

Harry was still looking around and missed the looks on Selena's and Harley's faces.

"It's amazing." He breathed.

Harry closed his eyes and breathed in.

A strange feeling covered Harry and seemed to soak into him, it was familiar but he couldn't place where he'd felt it before.

"Breathing in the magic?" A calming older voice broke through Harry's thoughts.

He blinked and looked at the source of the voice.

The source of the voice was an older man. He had silver-grey hair that was long enough to give him a shaggy look, he wore an off-white suit with a grey dress shirt, this was all completed with a strange stone with a red stone and strange shapes etched into the circle, it was hanging there by a leather cord. There was a strange sensation coming from the stone that drew Harry's eye, for a second the stone blurred and was replaced by a dreamcatcher, then as he was watching it blurred again to be replaced by the stone and blurred again to be replaced by the Dreamcatcher. They seemed to do that again and again, as if it couldn't choose the form it wanted to be.

"You should be careful when you do that, Magic is a wonderful thing but if you allow yourself to get lost in its depth you could lose yourself in it forever." He said.

"Greg." Valkyrie greeted.

"Hello Valkyrie, how are you?" he smiled.

"Not too bad, Rocco brought your message earlier." She replied.

Greg's eyebrow raised as he looked at the pocket that Rocco tended to ride in whenever they were around each other.

"I think he likes you better than he does me."

Valkyrie smiled and rubbed Rocco's fabric head.

"So, this is the young man that you've been training." Greg nodded towards Harry. "A pleasure to meet you young Harry, I'm Greg Shaw."

Harry shook the extended hand.

"Harry Kyle." He replied.

"A pleasure to meet you, I hope to have you as a student in a few years."

"What do you teach?" Harley asked, clearly forgetting that she was told earlier.

Greg smiled "I teach Voodoo arts, which covers communication with spirits and deceased loved ones, spell craft, Hexes and Curses of all kinds." He explained.

"Isn't Voodoo considered Dark Magic?" Selena asked.

Greg chuckled but shook his head

"Many people make that mistake about my craft, Voodoo is more about communication with Nature and spirits to solve issues, cure illnesses and the such. While, from a Hollywood Point of View, Voodoo can be considered a dark magic that is used to kill and attack people, about torturing people and the like.

"Voodoo is more nature-orientated, Healing medicines made from plants and other things found in Nature, along with some magic rituals to enhance their abilities. Voodoo practitioners are comparable to wiccans, in some ways, using nature to heal and protect the people we love, the only difference between the two is Wiccans use the power of Nature and those that practise Voodoo utilize a connection with the Loa. The Loa are, essentially, the gods of Voodoo. Someone that could communicate and gain the blessing of a Loa were able to utilize more specialized fields of the craft."

Selena was impressed.

She hadn't really thought about things like this, then again, she'd never considered Magic real until she met Phoebe and was told that Harry was magical, though she should have paid attention, or looked into it once or twice when Zatara, the Stage Magician slash Hero, appeared in San Francisco and started to take down criminals with his magic.

"So what kind of tests do people need to take to enter your class?" Harley asked.

"Nothing too special really, many people can learn the Voudoun arts. There are many paths that one can take, but there's an age limit for the class, thirteen is the age needed, only because of the magical maturity and stability needed for the craft, most of the classes are combined with the Wiccan classes but both focus on different areas. The Wiccan classes on the magic of nature and the voodoo classes focus on the darker side of nature." Greg explained.

"What classes can I test for?" Harry asked.

Valkyrie answered.

"First, like with everyone, we'd recommend testing for Wand Magic. It's one of the most common magic available and also very versatile in the pathways that you can take. After that you can take the test for Elemental Studies, though we already know you can enter the class, and there's a note in your record about it too. After that its all about looking around and finding what interests you in learning, or if something calls out to you, and take the tests if you can."

"They have the Grimoire testing in an hour, which is always a show of its own." Greg supplied. "I better get back and relieve Marie from the testing, she's more into the research side of things instead of being placed in the spotlight. Though I should say she is amazing at curse identification and obscure knowledge."

With a grin and a nod Greg walked away, heading back towards his booth to take over the testing.

"Well I like him." Harley voiced.

* * *

Harry was grinning like a loon.

He had taken several different tests that were available throughout the testing hall. There were several different tests that he was able to take, though many of the tests were limited to students needing to have prior knowledge about certain classes before being able to take the test, others required certain items for the test. Harry was fortunate as to be able to observe the tests that he wasn't able to take and had learnt many things from them. He had taken several tests that he had passed and there were others that he had failed or had a limited capability for, those he'd more than likely not take unless they interested him when he was older.

 _ **Abjuration**_ \- Pass  
The study of Defensive and supportive magic.  
Magic based in the fields of Healing, Protection, Purification, Magical barriers and the enhancement of Physical and Magical abilities.

 _ **Wand Based Magic**_ – Pass – Rank 4  
Magical arts requiring the use of language and control offered by wands.  
 **Transfiguration** – A branch of magic dealing with the alteration, transformation or changing of one object into another form, size, appearance or design. The opposite of Charms as it changes the objects form or appearance. **  
Charms** – A branch of magic dealing with adding certain properties to an object or creature, the opposite of Transfiguration as the object remains the same but has a different effect.

 _ **Craftsmen Magic**_ – Pass  
The utilization of Magic in the crafting of objects, weapons, armour and relics. Magical arts pertaining to this subject are; Armament Magic, Art Magic, Creation Magic, Enchanting and Elemental magic.

 _ **Alchemy**_ – Limited Pass  
The study of Magic, Science, the arcane and its place in the world. Ranging from Elemental Transmutation – transforming base metals into a purer form, creating Golems or making permanent changes on the state of matter (changing the durability or mailability of glass) – various forms of Elemental Manipulation and Life-force Manipulation. As well as the practical applications of Potions and Magical items.  
 **Limited Pass** – Student may have issues with various assignments and course prerequisites, will not impair the student from completing the class, but may affect quality of work and magical ability.

 _ **Linguistic Magic**_ – Pass  
The study and use of Magic by use of words, phrases and pidgin of various languages of differing origin. Studies include the progression of both Magical and Non-Magical languages, their effects on the world and Spell craft.

 _ **Emblem Magic**_ – Pass  
The use of Emblems or symbols made from magical energy to perform magic.  
 **Recommendation:** Students below Rank 3.5 in Wand Based Magic may have issues with the practical applications of this class.

 _ **Elemental Magic**_ – Pass  
The use of elemental forces through magical means.  
 **Elemental Alignment:** Shadow / Darkness

 **Enchantment & Imbuement** – Pass  
 **Enchantment:** The ability to Charm or Enhance the effect of an object through magic, granting Objects abilities that they otherwise would not have by means of magical words or rituals.  
 **Imbuement:** Empower objects, weapons, armour or other objects by means of magical rituals, spells or arcane powers, allowing the manipulation of quality and efficiency of the item in question.

 _ **Languages (Non-Magic)**_ – Pass  
The Study of languages and their development throughout the world.  
 _ **Non-Magical Languages:**_ French, German, Italian, Greek, Japanese.

 _ **Languages (Magical)**_ – Pass  
The study of Magical Languages and their development throughout the world.  
 _ **Magical Languages:**_ Mermish, Goblin-Tongue, Troll, Lamian / Serpent tongue, Avian.

 _ **Techno Magic**_ – Pass  
The use of Technology to perform magical feats. This branch of Magic combines Technology, Advanced science and numeracy, magical energy and manipulation of energies to perform Magic.  
 **Warning to Students:** Those wishing to enrol into the Techno Magic Class may be required to choose between Wand Based Magic classes and Technology based Magic classes.

 _ **Dream Magic**_ – Failed  
Magic Based in the manipulation, understanding and inducement of Dreams. Users of this magic will learn to use magic that influences and affects the dreams of others, from entering the dreams of another, influence and control the dreams they enter, to bringing objects from the dreams into the real world.

 _ **Healing and Restoration**_ – Pass  
The use of Magic to restore the living and/or Non-Living to their optimum state, such as healing an injury or repairing items. Subjects included will be; Biology, anatomy and medical sciences.

 _ **Divination**_ – Failed  
The use of objects, Magic or Rituals through which glimpses into the past, present or future is possible.  
 **Areas of study include;**  
Astromancy – divination through celestial bodies  
Catoptromancy – divination through reflective surfaces (i.e. Mirrors)  
Cartomancy – divination through cards  
Numeromancy – divination through numbers

 **Potions** – Limited Pass – Average Potioneer  
The study of potions, magical ingredients and minor rituals (based solely on potions and their ingredients), Magical animals and Plants. Potions is the study and creation of magical beverages, balms, salves and substances with magical properties such as enhancing Physical and Mental abilities, healing, changing shape or bewitchment of another depending on the type of potion that is made.

 _ **Emotion Magic**_ – Failed  
The use of magic fuelled by emotions. This course studies the art of augmentation, elimination and other manipulations of emotions.

 _ **Ritual Magic**_ – Limited Pass  
The study, creation, history and performance of Ritualistic magic casting and its effects.  
 **Limited Pass:** Student may have issues performing certain feats required for the safety of ritualistic magic.

 _ **Wiccan studies**_ – Limited Pass  
Also known as Nature magic. The use of naturally occurring elements and forces to cast spells and manipulate the world.  
 **Limited Pass:** Student may have issues calling upon the natural energies surrounding them but may still be able to perform other types of magic within the studies of Nature magic.

 **Symbol Magic** – Pass  
The study and use of symbols and their meanings. Symbol magic studies include Rune magic, Inscription magic, Lexiconicy and the use of different symbols to perform Magic.

 _ **Dark Arts**_ – Accepted  
 _ **This is not a class on how to perform dark magic.  
**_ This class is the study of the history of Dark Magic, Dark Magic Counter Curses, Creatures and beings that utilize Dark magic and Defence Against Dark Magic (Commonly referred to as Defence Class)  
 _ **Accepted**_ – As this is not a class on usage or learning Dark magic, only the defence of such Magic students are accepted to learn how to defend against users of Dark magic and not in the _use_ of Dark magic.

 _ **Lithomancy**_ – Pass  
Also known as Gem / Jewel craft Magic. The use of magic with/through crystals/gems, using them for various magical purposes like heal wounds, summon entities, creating a contract, impose/break seals.

 _ **Illusion Magic**_ – Failed  
The use of magic to Create false images and sensations to confuse, ensnare, trap, harm or capture another.

 _ **Music Magic**_ – Failed  
The use of Music to cast spells and perform Magic.

 **Solar Magic** – Failed  
The use of a legendary form of magic that allow the user to cast magical spells and feats through the sun, even using spells to manipulate solar light.

 **Lunar Magic** – Failed  
User is able perform a legendary form of magic that allow the user to cast magical spells and feats through the moon

 _ **Life Magic**_ – Limited Pass  
The use of magic to bring anything the user see fits to life, such as statues, toys, even such as furniture and rubble.

 _ **Charm Magic**_ – Undetermined  
The creation and use talismans, charms and wards for various purposes. The spells and effects can be prepared in peace, with time and care, thus making them more potent than those of other forms of magic, but yet must be pre-prepared and limited by the number the carried.

 _ **Spirit Magic**_ – Undetermined  
The study and use of spirits to perform magic that would normally be challenging or impossible for other Magical beings. The use of spirits or spiritual magic is connected to several different areas of Magic.  
 _ **Recommendation:**_ All students wishing to attend Spirit Magic class are recommended to attend Invocation classes.

 _ **Invocation Magic**_ – Undetermined  
The study and use of rituals and relics pertaining to powerful beings, or belonging to powerful Witches, Wizards, Mages, Sorcerers, Vampires, Werewolves, Magical Creatures; Dragons, Wyverns, trolls, Phoenix, basilisk, Acromantula or other creatures.

Harry was happy that he had several different areas that he was able to study, Selena pointed out that while the classes he was testing for were things that he'd be able to learn there was still the central non-Magical classes that he'd be taking along with it, such as; Math, English, Science and History, both Magical and otherwise.

He didn't mind learning regular classes, though being able to use a wand and do som real magic instead of just Shadow elemental magic, as limited and powerful as it was there was still very little that he could do with it because of his age and limited amount of magical energy, so learning how to use other types of magic that he'd actually be able to use is something that he'd been bringing up to Valkyrie for some time.

He was happy that he'd passed multiple tests and was able to learn some of the different types he'd seen around. Selena, Harley and Harry had questioned the limited passing's and failures, as well as the undetermined results.

"The limited pass, or limited failure, is not something that you should be worried about Harry." Valkyrie soothed.

"The limited pass grade is because you have the ability to pass the class but there will be some areas where you will fail or will struggle. The limited Failure on the other hand, is the opposite of that. You will struggle to pass the class but will be able to perform the magic to pass certain portions of the class itself."

Before Harry or Selena were able to say anything, Harley wasn't paying attention as she was looking at the shiny thing on the ground, an announcement echoed through the room.

 _ATTENTION LADIES AND GENELEMEN._

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked towards the roof where the voice was originating from.

 _THOSE WISHING TO UNDERTAKE THE GRIMOIRE MAGIC TEST MAY NOW MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE GRIMOIRE TOWER TO REGISTER FOR THE TEST. THOSE WISHING TO OBSERVE THE TEST ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE OBSERVATION PLATFORM._

Valkyrie looked at Harry who had a strange look in his eye.

"I take it you want to take a look?" she asked.

Harry grinned a toothy grin and nodded vigorously.

Valkyrie ruffled his hair and they made their way to the platform.

* * *

Harry, Harley and Selena were all standing on the observation platform with all the other parents, students and observers. They were amazed when they saw what was inside, Selena let out a low whistle when she saw it, clearly the Palaeophile within her was actively interested in what she was seeing. Harley wasn't very interested in what she was seeing, well… not _what_ she was seeing but where she was standing. Harry on the other hand was awestruck at what he was seeing, he had seen numerous things when training with Valkyrie, both in magical training and in some non-magical training.

The walls were covered with shelves upon shelves, the shelves seemed to continue high into the air, it was almost as if there was no roof on the building, which was strange because when they walked into the building it didn't seem as if the interior was actually that big… or as antique as it appeared. The wooden finish on everything screamed that it was old but wholly professional work, but it was the books that were sitting on the shelves that drew attention from everyone, those that could feel magic, even slightly, were drawn to the books. Those that could not were amazed the different type of books that they were seeing.

There were books on every shelve, there were no actual artifacts on any of the shelves but the books were of all different length, width and heights. From where Harry, Selena and Harley were standing there weren't any that they were able to read the words on, but there were some that had designs extending past the covers of the books and there were others that had visually different textures that drew the eye of those that were looking at them.

As everyone seemed to be marveling at the amazing and magical sights around them their attention was drawn to a woman that was walking purposely across the wide-open area to stand in front of everyone that was there, observers and test-takers.

"Greetings everyone." The woman's voice was calm and peaceful, but had an unspoken power behind it, her voice reached everyone's ears though it wasn't clear if she was using a spell to allow everyone to hear her or if she was just loud enough on her own.

"I would like to welcome everyone, Parents, Students that have attended the Rosalie for years and those that will be attending us next year, or sooner." She continued. "I would like to introduce myself to all those that do not know me. I am Corinna Li Fonti. I am the Headmistress of Roselia Academy."

There were murmurs and whispers rampant throughout the crowed. The trio looked at Valkyrie who was wide eyed and clearly surprised.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"No one has seen the headmistress outside of her office in years." Valkyrie spoke in a hushed whisper. "No one has seen a Headmistress, or Headmaster, in years. Even before I was admitted as a student there was no sighting of one."

"Then who was in charge of the school?"

"The headmistress, or headmaster, has supposedly changed throughout time but no one has ever known who they were or who replaced them, there was only a message spread throughout the school that a new Head had been admitted and that they would be making some changes, though the changes were normally around what classes were available and entry requirements. There weren't any real important changes that spurred people to looking into who the Head was." Valkyrie answered.

"So, it's a big deal that she's here and standing out in the open?" Selena asked.

Valkyrie nodded.

"I know that this is… Shocking for most people that have attended Roselia or know of its numerous Legends. The fact that a Headmaster or Headmistress has not been visibly seen since 1207 when the academy came it's closest to being destroyed by the Dark Lady Andrea, also known as Andrea the Enchantress." Headmistress Corinna continued.

"I am here today because of one thing and one thing only. One of our divination professors, a clairvoyant, saw that there would be a member of the new students enrolling into the academy this year, specifically that there was a member of the new students that would face great challenges and would potentially fail to fulfil the great struggles that they would encounter.

"Unlike others I believe that, as a school, as educators, and more importantly that as Magical people we need to be ready for the struggles that we will face throughout our lives, whether that is in everyday life or in the struggles within the classroom.

"Because of that divination, because of the struggles that will be faced, not only by that _one_ student but for all other students and their own struggles, I am removing the age limit on those wishing to take the Grimoire exam. Students that are not attending the Grimoire Magic class, but still receive a grimoire will be limited in their usage of them to the weekend training classes that will be offered, those who are attending the grimoire magic classes will also be allowed to attend these weekend classes.

"This is so both students and teachers will be able to learn and teach one and other, this will allow students and teachers to better work together throughout any challenges that we all may face."

The headmistress's words seemed to echo throughout the large area.

Silence reigned for several seconds before the sound of someone clapping echoed throughout the area. Slowly others joined in.

The sound of applause was deafening as it echoed throughout the large hall but after what seemed like hours, but was more likely minutes, she raised her arms and the applause came to an end.

"I would like to invite all students that wish to take the test to come down here and join your fellow students. Do not be disheartened if you do not receive a grimoire today, it simply means that you are not yet ready and you will be able to take the test again, but those of you over the age of Fifteen who take the test be warned. There has never been a grimoire given to someone over the age of Fifteen, so while we will allow you to take the test a second time if you are Fifteen, you will not be allowed a third."

Harley seemed to know what Harry was about to ask and beat him to it.

"Go ahead hare-bear, go and take the test." She lightly pushed him forward.

"Harley, I don't think it's a good idea-" Selena began but was cut off when Harry vanished into his own shadow effectively cutting off her opinion "Never mind then."

* * *

Harry sunk into his shadow, his transition was getting better but he was still slightly shaken when he entered the shadow, thankful that there were other shadows nearby that he was able to link to. He worked his way through the various shadows that were cast by the other people to get to the stairwell leading down to the entryway that they'd all had to walk through.

When he reached the stairwell, he was able to detect that there was a shadow on the roof where the lights didn't reach, but there was no shadow for him to travel through to reach it.

'Looks like I'll need to put all that practice to good use.' He thought as he focused his magic.

Harry exited the shadow of another person, someone that he didn't know and focused his elemental magic to sustain the shadow that he was using to stretch to the other shadow on the roof. This was a skill that Valkyrie had been teaching him for months, originally, she had layered the area that they used with thin shadows as to prevent him from being lost in the world of shadows but lately, the last week and a half, he'd been learning to connect to natural shadows that weren't cast by magic.

There was several seconds where there was no movement in the shadow but after a short few seconds a small tendril of shadow slithered across the ground and touched the shadows on the roof. Once there was a connection to the shadows on the roof Harry sped through the connecting shadow, closing the connection behind him, and shooting through the hallway and slipping out of the shadow at the stairwell.

"Nice Elemental work." A voice caught Harry off guard.

He spun around, he hadn't been thinking when he'd slipped into the shadow. The allure of learning new magic was too strong for him to deny and he'd just gone.

"Don't worry about it." The owner of the voice waved his obvious concern off. "I won't tell anyone. I know more than anyone that there are some things that better stay secret."

"Thanks." Harry stiffly replied.

The boy harry was looking at was interesting to say the least, from what Harry could feel from him anyway.

The boy and Harry looked back towards the stairwell where the sounds of people, children, were coming from.

"Sounds like we better get into that hall and see if we're lucky enough to get a book." The strange boy said as he nodded his head towards the open door where they could see the other hopefuls waiting.

"Yeah, I guess so." Harry replied tersely.

Harry and the boy walked into the hall with several other students that had been the first down the stairwell, bar Harry and the strange boy, everything that he saw was just as magical and amazing as it was when he was in the observation area.

"Welcome." The headmistress greeted the new students.

There was a murmur of greetings but it was mostly washed with awed tones.

The headmistress didn't seem to mind that there were mostly students looking at the grimoires than there were talking to her, she seemed to find it… Heart-warming, if what Harry could see was correct. Headmistress Corina's eyes locked onto Harry's and she slyly gave him a wink, he would have missed it if he hadn't been paying attention to the Golden-Haired witch.

"Students." Corinna's voice drew the attention of all in the hall and observation platforms. "Today marks the first step of the magical journey for many of you, and the addition of a new pathway for many others.

"There isn't a person here that doesn't wish to receive a grimoire for one reason or another, whether that is for power, for a chance to prove yourself or to challenge yourself, that's up to you. Today, for your future, you will be granted Faith, Hope and Love. Now then… I am sure that everyone here wants nothing more than to receive their grimoire, so without further ado…

" _ **Grimoir Confirment**_ "

With those last two words a wave of magic washed over the crowd.

There was a loud intake of breath from everyone as near countless books glowed with various colours and intensity.

Time seemed to draw itself out, the seconds seemed to drag and the minute never seemed to tick over to the next.

Suddenly the first book, a deep green book, the size of a small paperback novel, floated off a shelve and seemed to shyly float towards a young red-haired girl that almost seemed as shy as the book itself was, if that was possible. It seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back as a multitude of books started glowing and lifting off the shelf before shooting towards different people.

The boy that was with Harry, though he still didn't know his name, received a grimoire. His was an oddly smooth grey with depictions of a somewhat familiar tree-shrub that he was sure that he'd seen somewhere before but couldn't place, though he was _sure_ that he knew what it was. The book was interesting as he could feel the magical power that it held, but there was a tension to it that warned him from reaching out to touch it with his hand.

His eyes darted around, looking around at the books that were still floating through the air.

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, he hoped that he'd receive a book like the boy next to him, something in his heart told him that there was a book there for him and that it was calling to his magic, which was a strange experience in and of itself.

Something calling to his magic was like hearing a sound that was far off in the distance barely above a whisper but knowing that there was a sound.

Harry closed his eyes and reached out with his magic, calling for his book.

 _Please… Come to me…_

There was a sound, as if a warm laughing breeze in his ears.

A light shone through his eyelids and he slowly opened his eyes. Almost dreading the thought that the light was coming from someone else's grimoire. But as he opened his eyes he was greeted to the sight that summoned forth a wetness in his eyes that he had to blink heavily to clear. He saw that the boy that he had walking in with was slyly watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't worry man, I know how emotional people can get."' He told Harry. His tone was even and firm, but there was a clear underlying factor of care and understanding as well.

Harry nodded and reached out with shaking hands and gripped his book.

As soon as his hands gripped the grimoire the light died down and a wave of acceptance and familiarity rocked through him.

The book was interesting to say the least.

Instead of the vague designs that other books had, such as the tree on the other boy's book, the bubbles on another, the depiction of waves, fire, stones, metal, flowers, clouds, wool and numerous others that he could see, his book was different.

There was a coat of arms with an image of a lion in the middle of the coat of arms and three birds spread out at the top, one at the upper middle while the other two were at the top left and top right, respectively. There was a sword to one side of the coat and a shield on the other, there was also a wand depicted on the shield.

'A magical Families coat of arms?' he mused to himself.

He took his eyes of the coat of arms and looked at the rest of the cover.

Above the coat of arms and the birds there was a cloud covering the top of the book with multiple lightning bolts coming down in the distance, but there was one that was rather large and imposing in the middle of the cloud striking a mountain that was behind the coat of arms, the top of the mountain was barely a few millimeters from the top of the bird, with just enough space to tell that the lightning wasn't hitting the bird. On the bottom of the grimoire it seemed that the coat of arms was sitting in the middle of a battlefield, he could clearly see the images of bodies laying on the ground, several weapons stabbed into the ground from their owners falling in battle and having attempted to use them to keep themselves upright, there were several other people, locked in combat.

The book mesmerized him and Harry could barely tear his eyes away from the thick A5 sized book.

"Woah, you got a pretty interesting grimoire there." A voice cut in through his mind.

Shaking himself out of his stupor Harry looked and saw that it was the boy that he'd walked in with.

"Uh… Yeah, it seems so." He lamely replied, unconsciously tightening his grip on his grimoire.

The boy noticed it but said nothing.

"The name's Touji. Tsuchimikado Touji." He introduced himself as he offered his hand for Harry to shake.

"Harrison Potter-Kyle" he replied as he shook the boys hand. "Call me Harry, it's a pleasure to meet you Tsuchima- Tsuchaka-"

Thankfully he was saved from making a bigger fool of himself by the other boy cutting him off.

"It's Touji." He said. "My family is originally from Japan so our name is backward. Tsuchimikado is my family name, Touji is my actual name."

"Thanks, Touji." Harry grinned.

"No worries." He shrugged.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence between the two of them for the minute it took for the rest of the group to realize that they headmistress was waiting for them to quiet downs.

"Young Ladies and Young Gentlemen, I see that most, if not all, of you have received a grimoire. For those that haven't and are still under the age of fifteen then I welcome you to return next year to try once more, for those over fifteen and without a grimoire I offer you my sincere condolences-"

"FUCK YOU!"

Everyone gasped, students and observers alike.

"Sincere condolences my ass, you fake ass cunt!" Everyone's eyes were locked onto one young man, clearly close to fifteen. "You said that everyone would receive a grimoire, so where are you keeping them all?"

Whispers broke out.

"I'm not sure what it is you're implying Mr..."

"Ackerman, Jacob Ackerman." He supplied his name. "Just from looking around anyone could tell that there's no way that there's enough books for every magical student that attends the academy even though books just appear on the shelves, so where do you keep them all? You're hording the power of those books, keeping the most powerful ones for yourself."

"Mr Ackerman." Corrina spoke calmly, though it was clear to everyone that could hear it that there was an underlying danger in her voice. "It would do well to remember whom you are talking to and what exactly an adult Magical is capable of."

She started walking forward and all the students that were between Jacob and Corrina scurried out of the way to avoid the angered headmistress.

"There are many reasons why _I_ am the headmistress of this academy, one of those reasons is because I was deemed stronger than any of the other applicants that were available. There are other such reasons like being the stronger applicant, having the drive and determination and such. But there's one, single, reason that I was chosen as the headmistress of this academy.

"That's simply because-"

A powerful magical weight settled over the gathered students, mostly focused on the single student.

"I am the only magical with enough power and control to drive away the HomoMagi community that threaten our way of life."

* * *

The sound of glass shattering violently followed with a grunt of pain caught everyone off guard.

"Harry!" Touji exclaimed in shock.

All eyes turned to where the exclamation came from.

They all saw a boy with a green bandana holding back his long shaggy brown hair gripping another younger boy with wild dark hair. What drew the looks and shocked whispering was the fact that blood was flowing down his face at a slow but consistent rate. Several teachers appeared seemingly out of nowhere and were making their way towards the two boys.

"I'm fine Touji, nothing got into my eyes." Harry calmly told Touji as he firmly pressed the worried boy off him.

Touji looked like he wanted to refuse but there was something strange about Harry and it prevented Touji from immediately ignoring his wishes.

Once Touji was no longer holding Harry he sighed and, to everyone else, the area around him seemed to darken making the heavy pressure, which was lighter than it had been before but was still pressing down on everyone, seem to flow towards him and vanish. He held his grimoire in one hand and everyone watched as it floated in the air on its own, once the book was floating Harry extended his hand and a dark black walking stick raised out of his shadow seemingly with a mind of its own as it seamlessly met his hand.

With his eyes closed Harry walked forward the dark black walking stick making the only sound in the room, a deep tap. For some unknown reason the sound was worrisome for everyone that could hear it. The teachers that had been making their way towards him to assist had stopped and were waiting tensely.

"Headmistress." Harry spoke, his voice carried throughout the room. "While I do not agree with Mr. Ackerman and disagree greatly with the words that he used, I do not agree with the way that you are handling the situation. You are using excessive force and are, effectively, wasting our time."

There was an intake of breath at his words but Harry calmly removed his damaged glasses, which had only a few pieces of the enchanted glass attached to the frames.

"The smartest thing to have done was simple." Harry half turned to the side and gave a pathetic half wave, and before everyone's eyes Jacob Ackerman was swallowed by shadows. "By removing the person in question, you show your authority and end the problem in one fell swoop."

There was a tense silence in the room for several moments.

The level of control that and power that he had just carelessly displayed was astounding, to those that didn't know what to look for, or where looking the entire time.

"Before anyone decides that they wish to argue with the way that I ended the situation, I believe that it would be prudent if we allow the headmistress to conclude her closing speech and then we'd all be able to continue on with the things that we have planned for the rest of the day."

When no one said anything, Harry gave the headmistress a single nod and turned towards the exit, he took several steps before speaking again.

"Touji, could you please help me find my parents please? I'm having a little trouble deducing where the exit is relative to where I was standing before."

Touji smirked as he carefully gripped Harry's arm and lead him towards the exit, Harry's grimoire floating before him almost at the ready to be used at a moment's notice.

No one said anything as they watched the scene unfold.

* * *

There were many people that had been watching the events of the grimoire examinations, if it could really be called that.

"Didn't I tell you that it was worth watching this year Durza?" a feminine voice questioned.

A young man with blood red hair and ashen white skin sneered distastefully at the scene he was looking at.

"The _boy_ " he spat "Needs to learn respect for the food chain. He seems to think that because of his fancy ability he can do as he pleases. He'll have the standard month before I make my move, I want to see whether he falls or if he rises before I crush his dreams."

The feminine voice giggled.

"You're such a bad boy, Carsaib."

Durza spun around and gripped the lady by the throat, hatred and wrath in his eyes.

"Speak _that_ name once more, and I will show you there are things worse than dying, Blood Leeching Whore."

The woman held by her throat sneered back at the pale offending limb before slashing through it with her sharp nails, not even reacting when it dissipated into smoke.

"You go too far _Shade_. You live because of my mercy and it would do you well to remember that before you make another foolish decision." She didn't wait for an answer as she swept away.

"Was that really wise, antagonizing her like that?" Someone asked.

Durza didn't react to the new voice, as if he'd known it had been there the entire time regardless of the fact that the owner had just appeared in the room as his hand had been destroyed.

"There's a reason for everything that I do, you know this as well as I."

"Indeed."

The owner of the voice departed back to wherever it came from.

* * *

"I told you Samedi, he's worth keeping an eye on, even just looking in on him every so while."

"I tought I told 'ou I don care bout dat follish fuck, he uses da shadow as if it were a toy." Samedi snorted as he lit a cigar. "If da Punk try to call on me he'll find 'imself looking for a new soul."

Without another word Samedi walked away, a shovel appearing in his hand as he walked away.

He shook his head as he mused 'They'd get alone if you'd give him half a chance. Samedi, you always had your favorites amongst the mortals and he will have the most respect for you while still keeping you entertained.'

He sighed and continued to watch the boy walking his road of life, wearily eyeing the oncoming crossroads that were in his path.

* * *

 **Apologies for the late delay in getting this posted.  
** **I have a few story ideas that I am thinking of posting, unsure if they are worth pursuing as a proper fic but I want to get them out of my head. So keep an eye out for them!**


	9. Chapter 8

Touji was completely astounded with everything that happened.

His day hadn't been that bad, truth be told. He was entering into his second year at Roselia academy, he'd spoken to his father earlier, something special that doesn't happen often when one's father has a high ranking managerial position in an international banking corporation. Though it wasn't something that he was upset about when his father dumped a good fifteen thousand dollars into his personal account, though most of it was converted into Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

While he didn't have the best of relationships with his father he was still supportive, if mildly hard to talk to since his father was non-Magical, so there was a gap between them, but his father was understanding at least, to the best of his abilities.

Having nothing better to do, though plagued with mild curiosity he attended the class testing that occurs before the start of the school year, he was happy that he'd been given the chance to do so, when the headmistress appeared he was shocked like everyone else, even more so when he was offered a chance to get a grimoire of his own, not that he really believed that it was an important thing for him to get, seeing as he had his own special talents with magic. But that didn't diminish the powerful emotions that spread through him when he placed his hands on the Hawthorn Grimoire.

Right away he knew that there were a couple of spells that he'd be able to use, though it was surprising because it was extremely common for those who get grimoires to have an elemental ability, of sort.

They were able to control the element that corresponded to their grimoire.

People with Fire based grimoires were able to achieve various levels of Pyromancy; the same with water and Hydromancy, Air/wind and Aeromancy and various others.

He, personally, didn't have any kind of natural elemental ability before receiving his grimoire; though now he understood that it was because he hadn't been near any hawthorn trees or learnt that his powers were based around Plant manipulation.

Then the other shoe dropped.

The foolish ass that called out against the headmistress must have struck a powerful nerve.

When the wave of oppressive magic hit, it was everything that he could do to keep himself standing. The pressure was immense, it was like an ant standing on the beach shore facing off against a hurricane. His body was tense and ready to bolt at a moments notice, but he couldn't move, it was fear that was making him stay perfectly still, there was no other reason and he would never deny it, if the headmistress had turned her eyes on him then he wouldn't be standing.

It was that simple.

No matter how much of a delinquent people called him Tsuchimikado Touji was smart. How could he not be?

His father was an important figure in the world and ensured that he had been educated sooner than normal people would commence their educations, it was only to make him from being an embarrassment to his father, Tsuchimikado Majua.

But everything seemed to change when the young boy that he'd walked in with, who seemed to be frightened and defensive when he had commented, and complimented, his elemental ability. It was clear that the boy wanted to keep his ability secret, but he'd used it in public anyway?

He knew that something was up.

It was a by-product of being raised by a man like his father…though 'being raised' was not the correct terminology for what his father did.

Then everything changed again!

The pressure that was weighing down on everyone shifted, though it was still started to sift and draw towards the younger boy that he'd walked in with. Harrison… Harry, he'd said his name was. All the magical weight that was pressing down on the gathered students was starting to move away… it was slowly starting to move towards where Harry had been standing when the fool shouted at the headmistress.

The next time that he saw Harry, though it was only a few moments later, it felt like a lifetime under the weight, Harry stood there, eyes closed, under the weight of the headmistress' power, though there was something different about the way that he was standing…and where did that cane come from?

Harry stood there, his form seemed to emit strange black smoke.

There were only thin wisps but from where he was standing they were visible enough to him.

The smoke seemed to be coming from different parts of his body, the arms, legs and torso.

It took him a few seconds to realize the added affect that he'd not actually noticed until he saw a scrap of paper moving across the ground drawn towards Harry, following along with the flow of magical weight. When it slapped against Harry's leg Touji saw that the corners of the paper were still trying to move along with the weight.

Then he saw something completely strange.

The paper seemed to sink into Harry's leg.

Touji blinked.

He wasn't seeing things.

The paper was actually sinking into Harry's leg.

Pieces seemed to link together and form an image in that moment.

Harry had appeared out of a shadow, which meant that he had entered a shadow somewhere before he met with him. If HE could enter a shadow… did that mean that he could put things into the shadows…

That thought made Touji realize what Harry was actually doing.

He was sending the magical weight into the shadows… taking the pressure off everyone in the room and acting as the drain, meaning the weight would be compared to water swirling down the drain of a sink.

"Touji, could you please help me find my parents please? I am having a little trouble deducing where the exit is relative to where I was standing before."

Touji scrambled to his feet, slipping his grimoire into the back of his pants, being held in place by his belt. He smirked when he grabbed Harry's arm and started leading him towards the exit.

This would boost his standing throughout the school as soon as word spread, that and he had potentially made a friend.

Always make sure to remember the most important things.

* * *

"I still can't believe that you stood there and just sent him somewhere." Touji stated, not for the first time in the last hour since he had met Harry's mother, aunt and teacher.

He had to admit they were impressive, and it was clear to see where Harry was learning his elemental tricks, he knew about Valkyrie Cain, everyone at the academy knew about her; she was commonly called The Valkyrie. A powerful female Warrior-Sorceress that commands power and respect wherever she goes, without even trying.

There was even a rumour, though it wasn't completely false, that there was even a small portion of the student, both current and past, population that neigh-worshiped her and called themselves Valkyries' Valkyries. They were a small society of females, supposedly, the members never revealed who they were, that all believed that Valkyrie stood as a symbol or beacon for what a female magical could become, powerful, smart and beautiful, in their eyes.

"It's not that hard to believe, really." Harry commented as he walked with Touji, Harley, Selena and Valkyrie.

He had been invited after walking Harry to meet his mother to join them in shopping for Harry's supplies, since he'd know where to get things since he was a student and walked the shopping district often enough.

"I don't think you understand just how hard it is to believe what you did Harry." Touji insisted. "You just…" he just waved his hands as he tried to figure out what to say "Waved our hand and he was gone, while you stood there and practically scolded the headmistress for how she acted."

Harry rolled his eyes as he placed another book in the basket.

"The amount of power that you showed will no doubt spread throughout the school and make people look at who you are, what you do, where you go, as well as anything and everything that you do." Touji groused.

"You don't actually sound upset about it." Harry pointed out.

Touji stopped and looked at Harry.

"Upset?" He questioned. "Who said I was upset?"

"I did." Harry said. "Just then actually, didn't you notice?"

Touji clicked his tongue at the response.

"You're a bit of an ass."

"Yep." Was Harry's carefree response. "I found the book I was looking for."

Touji put the book he was holding down and walked over to where Harry was standing.

" _The Shadows; The Truth of Darkness and Light_?" Touji read aloud. "Why do you want this?"

"Valkyrie said that it was one of the few books published that talks about things that Shadow Elementals should know about, mostly about the difference between the real world and the world that Shadow Elementals draw their powers and strength from." Harry explained.

"She didn't think that I'd be able to find it, she doesn't have a copy of it either, but she did mention that I should always keep an eye out for it."

Touji just nodded.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Harry asked Touji.

He shook his head.

"Brought all my books this morning before the tests." Touji told Harry. "Though we don't really need to take the tests until the start of our third year, I don't really know how you'll work out your years but that's how it normally goes for everyone. The first two years are where you learn everything about the magical world, the basics of Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, history, maths and English are still there, as they need to be.

"But it's not all bad, flying lessons are open to everyone on the weekend, first years have lessons every two weeks. You'll learn how to fly a broom, which is kind of standard for Quidditch and personal travel for those that don't want to apparate or travel another way, the basics of flying carpets. Wind Elementals will learn the theory of personal flight, which is always a laugh when they sneeze and end up flying by mistake."

Paying for their books the duo made their way to where the adults were gathered.

"Did you find everything that you needed Harry?" Harley asked.

The boys went over their lists and found that they had everything that they needed for their classes, Touji had purchased the new course books that he needed and Harry had brought all his, though Touji had said that he would be more than happy to give Harry his copies, the younger boy had declined politely and said that it would be better to buy his own in case Touji needed them when he repeated the year.

The two boys, despite knowing each other for a short time were akin to old friends already. It warmed Harley and Selena's hearts to see Harry making a friend that wouldn't judge him like others had back in Gotham, sadly Harry's condition had been leaked to the student population and somehow students had found out about Harry's abuse and had decided that they would ensure Harry 'Knew his place in Gotham', unfortunately for them Harry had picked up a few… Quirks, shall we say, from Harley over the years.

Harry had, from that day forth, been oft seen with a stick, commonly one made of sturdy bamboo, with clumps of dirt or a piece of clothing wrapped around one end, Harley had cooed that Harry was _Almost_ old enough for her to give him her first Mallet when she heard about it.

"Yeah I think we've got everything for class." Touji spoke first. "Harry needs to get his wand and we both need a Leather pouch to carry our grimoires in. We can get both in the place that I got my Wand from."

"Why do we need a pouch?" Harry asked.

Touji blinked, then realized his bluster.

"There are many people that have grimoires in the magical community surrounding Roselia, there are a few other magical communities throughout America but there is none bigger than the Academy's community. Many people who graduate the academy end up living here, even if they work in the Non-Magical world, that doesn't mean that everyone does, live here I mean. Many just live wherever they are comfortable.

"The academy teaches all levels of education, but Magic classes tend to begin when we reach eleven, because that's when our magical cores are strong enough to begin being utilized for spells and the like." Touji explained.

"But I'm not eleven." Harry commented.

Touji blinked.

"I'm only ten, my eleventh birthday isn't until next year."

"Oh…" Touji thought for a moment. "There have been students that started a year or two early because of various reasons."

Although he said it, there seemed to be some underlying tone in his voice that caught Harry's attention.

"Well we should go and get you a pouch for your grimoire anyway" Touji finished the topic. "The place isn't far and she does good work."

The group started following Touji, Valkyrie and Selena were engaged in conversation about something that he wasn't sure about but knew that it was very complicated and something he didn't want to get involved with, Harley was looking at everything around her while holding Harry's hand, neither were sure about why it was happening but they both were reluctant to let go, thankfully Touji didn't comment on it when he saw them.

* * *

"Here we are;" Touji announced to the group. "Alianna's Boutique. The lady that made my wand has been here for centuries, a master of her craft and one of the best in all of the two countries, the academy's small community and the rest of America."

"What makes her so good?" Valkyrie questioned.

Touji smirked.

"She's one of the few certified Wand Crafters in the world, although many people avoid her shop because she's a vamp, I hope that doesn't offend you or something, she's got every kind of Wood and Core that anyone could ever need and that's just for wands. Alianna can make any focus that you need, she's a master crafter that apparently comes from an old family of craftsmen, she's never told me which one though, but she can make you anything you need… As long as you have enough money."

Touji pushed open the door.

"Alianna! You decent?" Touji called out.

A head of thick raven black hair flicked through the air as a stunning young woman appeared from behind the counter, clearly having been concealed under the counter as she was looking for something.

"Me?"

 **(A/N For those that don't get the scene please go and watch shawshank redemption, the movie scene that plays the Rita Haysworth (?) scene, you should understand then.)**

A shock ran through Harry's very being, causing him to shudder lightly at the alluring smirk on her rosy red lips. She rose from her hiding place and placed a cigarette between her lips as she looked over the group, her eyes widened when she saw Valkyrie.

"So, this is Valkyrie Cain, I've heard a lot about you Valkyrie."

Then her eyes fell on Harry and a strange cold, serious and rather venomous look appeared.

"So, the family finally decides to come visit after six-hundred years." She stated as she touched her finger to the tip of her cigarette, a small wisp of smoke curled from the contact. "So, what brings a member of my family here today."

"Who do yo-" Harley began.

"I wasn't talking to you." Alianna snapped "Potter men stand on their own feet, and never let my siblings or I forget that, amongst other things."

No one said anything.

Harley was kept silent by Selena who knew exactly what Alianna was trying to do, Valkyrie kept silent because she wanted to see what he would do, Touji was just shocked that Alianna had reacted like that to someone.

"I came for a wand and something to keep my grimoire in." Harry said, producing the grimoire he'd received.

As soon as Alianna's eyes lay on the grimoire she bared her fangs and let out a strange hiss. Her eyes a turned crimson in fury.

"Get that thing out of sight!" she hissed, her eyes darting back and forth through the windows as if someone was looking through them.

She seemed to come to a decision and quickly moved, barely slower than a run, and closed the heavy drapes blocking out the world outside the store.

"Get in the back. Now." She hissed at the group.

The group quickly made their way into the back of the store as they had been instructed, Valkyrie was the last to enter the back room before Alianna entered and slammed the door shut behind her, before anyone could speak she pulled out a dagger, the adults were ready for a fight immediately, Valkyrie had her shadows ready to strike, Harley produced a dagger from somewhere and Selena had her arms in a slack but ready position, Alianna then carved a strange symbol into her palm with the dagger.

Harry barely got a look at the symbol but he saw what it looked like.

It looked like a large capital C but in the shape of a diamond and reversed with four slightly curved lines making an old style 0 with a diagonal line through it.

Without hesitation Alianna powerfully slammed her engraved palm into the door, the sound of her hand hiding the wood was followed shortly by a powerful thud, like something locked in place. She looked around the room, almost as if something was going to jump out of the shadows at her at any moment. She moved throughout the room muttering unknown words under her breath as she went. It was several minutes before she even looked at Harry or the rest of the group.

"OK, now that I'm sure that no one is going to attack my store and there's no way anyone can just appear inside the store without my say and the wards are active; So, does anyone want to tell me what the Potter Family Warmage is doing in my store." She pressed.

"Warmage?" Touji voiced.

"Not you, be quiet." Alianna scolded the young boy.

"I was talking to the young British Potter that entered my store, carrying something that should be locked away in Potter Manor, which is in England, where it should also be sitting on a pedestal within the Library, surrounded by Security wards that have been erected and have been in place since the third generation of Potters lived in the Manor when they decided to settle in England."

"How did you know I was born in England?" Harry dumbly asked.

Alianna rolled her eyes.

"Other than the fact that you just heard that I'm older than Six hundred years, I'm also a vampire, and I am also related to you, you ask how I know that you were born in another country?"

"Yes…?"

Alianna rolled her eyes again.

"OK I'll give you the basic highlights." She spoke. "My name is Alianna Denise Dawne née Potter." She stood and curtsied, like an educated young lady form the middle ages, before sitting back down. "I was born in the Fourteenth Century; my father was Earl Jukel Rowland Potter of Kent who married my mother Petronella Godith Potter Née Bones, I had two brothers; Fulke and Sewel.

"I was born following the conclusion of the Great Famine of 1315-17, I had two beautiful girls, Orabella and Livitha, who both were lost to me during 1349 when the Black Death reached England. I was saved by a Vampire that owed a life debt to my Father, I later killed him when he was attempting to slaughter magical children when they were travelling to Hogwarts, which is the British School for Magical children. I then travelled the world, found an interest in Wand lore and then started making wands and foci around the world until I found my way to America and to Roselia academy where I became a teacher for Foci Crafting, until I retired and opened my own store, where I have been working for the last hundred years.

"I have known countless members of the Potter Family, though I may not be an active member of it, I am still connected to my family, and it's Magic. Tell me something Little War mage, did you feel a strange jolt when you saw me?"

Harry could feel the eyes on him but nodded.

"It felt like what happens when you get zapped by Static Electricity." He explained.

Alianna nodded.

"That was what I was hoping for."

"How so?" Harry asked, seeming to get a bit of confidence back.

"It means that you have connected with another member of the family, you will feel a similar jolt if you were to leave and comeback to the store another day, only this time it would be less that what you felt today. It's the family magic that you have calling out to the family magic that I have." She explained.

"You have a big blob of magic that keeps moving around too?"

Alianna blinked, having had no prepared answer for that question.

"Blob?" She asked, pathetically confused.

Harry nodded with a strange smile on his face.

"When I was learning Occlumency I travelled deeper into my mind and found my magic, it wasn't in the shape of a sun, like Valkyrie said hers was, it was all strange with large pieces moving around, like tentacles, moving around and wrapping around anything it could get its hands on… though there was nothing there for it to grab."

Alianna groaned and slumped back into her chair, rubbing her face with her hand and swearing lightly under her breath.

"Kid, you've gotta be one of the most annoying Potters that I've ever met." She groaned "Who's been teaching you about our family?"

"No one."

Alianna froze.

"I didn't even know that there was another Potter here in America." Harry explained. "Ma's been raising me with Mom and Aunt Selena since I was found wandering through the snow when I was four during a snow storm in Gotham, that was about six years ago. Before that I was raised by my Mothers Non-Magical sister who hated me. Since then I've been living with Mom and Ma, though Mom isn't really able to go many places with us…" he trailed off.

Alianna looked at the boy once again then looked at Selena.

"When is he starting Roselia?" she asked her.

"We were going to have him join in the younger class for the rest of the year then he would begin learning normal subjects at the beginning of next year." Valkyrie said.

Alianna tapped her finger against her chin as she looked at Harry.

"He needs to learn more about his family before he actively takes part in the Magical community." She spoke, not really paying attention to what anyone else was saying, not that they were actually talking.

"The Potter Family has a standard that they must maintain, and there are things that he needs to learn, being the next War mage. He needs to learn the history of his ancestors, the power that comes with the title as well as the responsibilities that it gives."

Selena spoke up.

"But what about his regular classes, he needs to have a normal education Magical world or No." she argued.

"That's fair enough, and I do understand the need for education." Alianna said "I was raised in the Middle ages, very few people had the chance to learn anything other than the trades that their families worked. I was lucky, as a Witch, that there was a certain level of education that I was able to receive. My mother and father weren't normal in the sense that they believed that as a woman I needed to learn how to fight as much as I needed to read and write.

"I learnt how to wield a sword, like my brothers, dance, eat, read and write; that was just with my parents, but when I was travelling around I learnt other things besides magic, that he needs to learn."

"What about normal classes like; Science, History, Social studies, Physical Education, Music, Environmental studies and Art. Where will he learn that?"

Alianna scoffed.

"I am over six hundred years old, I've learnt more forgotten in my time than you have learnt. The Potter family have been and will always be, a family of craftsmen… and women. The sciences we learn, perhaps not as good as one would learn in schools and the like but we learn them so we can use them. I have lived six hundred years of history that I can teach better than any school can, my family were members of the royal courts I learnt politics at the same time I was learning how to ride a horse.

"Music and art were standard female education for centuries and easily taught to someone with the passion and talent that is possessed by all Potters, from what I can see Physical education is something that Valkyrie here has been teaching Harry for years and you and I both know that his 'Mom' is the perfect person to teach him anything he needs to learn about Botany and environmental studies, correct Miss Quinn?"

"Yep!" Harley chirped happily. "Red's been teaching him that stuff for years, though he's never been as interested in it as she is, but no one really is."

"That's not to mention that he will be learning things that he should have been taught since birth; Magical customs, Law, traditions, Familial history, traditions and many other things that will only help him."

"Fine, see if I care." Selena retorted, as she slumped into a nearby empty chair.

"Don't worry." Harry commented "She does that when she knows she's lost."

Alianna smirked "My mother did the same."

They shared a laugh.

Alianna clapped her hands together, as if drawing all the seriousness forward and into the forefront of the conversation.

"Alright, since we've sorted all that out let's sort out the main reason that Touji brought you here." Alianna grinned. "What kind of Focus are you here to have made?"

"I came for a wand." Harry stated.

Alianna rolled her eyes. "Just because you came for a wand doesn't mean that you are suited for one."

"Then what kind of Focus are there?"

Alianna had a look similar to a predator stalking wounded prey.

"All kinds." She gave him a toothy grin.

"Oooh Harry does the same thing." Harley cheered. "Ooh the last time he had that look he snuck into this rich guy apartment and when the guy woke up in the morning the only thing that Harry had left him was the mattress he was laying on and the clothes he was wearing."

"Why'd he do that?" Touji asked, then voiced another question. "How did he do it?"

"You saw how I appeared at the bottom of the stairs earlier?" Harry asked.

"Yeah?" Touji replied, unsure about how it related.

"I hid myself in his shadow and let him lead me into his apartment, I saw what code he used for his security system. So, when he went to sleep I called Aunt Selena, she stole a moving truck and I took everything from his place. It was a fair punishment and I ended up several thousands of Dollars richer, I also had a TV for my room." Harry replied.

"Why did you do it?" Touji asked, mildly impressed.

"He tried to get Ma to go and ' _Ditch the brat_ ' so he could ' _Show her what it meant to be around a real man_ '." Harry answered "Though he didn't look very manly crying about having his things taken in his boxers the next morning."

Touji let out a low whistle while making a mental note not to piss Harry off.

The group heard a grunt, followed immediately be a deep echoing _THUD_.

All eyes locked onto Alianna, who had dumped a large trunk on the floor.

"What's with the trunk?" Harley questioned, still retaining her cheery voice.

Alianna replied by undoing the latch and lifting the lid.

"You asked about other Foci, well here are all the basic examples that I've come up with over the years, these are just some that I've made or have been given, or have just taken." She replied slapping Harley's approaching hand.

Giving Harley a look of admonishment Selena pulled Harley back and forced her to remain by her side.

"First we have the basic of basics." Alianna began.

"The staff." She lifted out a long thick staff. It was roughly five feet tall made of a gnarled wood but didn't have many decorations or special looking features other than the strange symbols that Harry recognized as runes, engraved along its length.

"Staves were the first Focus that Magicals had, mostly because they were so common for people to use when they were travelling long distances, walking sticks and the like were often used to make the journey easier. Over time magical people realized that their magic was entering the wood that they were using and found they were able to use spells through them." She explained.

"Staves are good for powerful magics, specifically Combat magic. They can be personalized to a level that many other foci can't, meaning that they can be made with certain magics in mind; so while some wizards or families focused on having a variety of magic others wanted staves that would help certain fields, such as Transfiguration or charms, then they were also able to specify what kind of spells, such as animation, conjuration, Summoning and Banishing, as many different spells as you could shake a stick at… No pun intended." She finished as she placed the staff on a nearby table.

"Next, we have the most common, and also the evolution of the Staff. The wand." She lifted out a Wand that had been in the trunk.

"The wand has a weakness in that it cannot be customized as well as the staff, something that had been attempted to this day, another weakness is that it cannot channel as much magic through itself to even compare with a staff but it makes up for it in its versatility, allowing for the creation and use of countless spells that we use today.

"Wands are made with different woods as a shell, and different magical substances to act as their cores, such as Dragon Scales, heartstring, Feathers of Magical Birds, hair of other Magical Creatures and even the blood of some as well. Each wood and core affected or resonates with the magic of the witch or wizard that it bonds to. So while one Magical is skilled in Transfiguration with a wand made of Ebony the core of the wand will make a difference in the spells used; If one had a dragon heartstring as a core the spells would have more power and be harder to reverse by someone else, but if the wand had a Phoenix Feather than it would have more variety instead of power."

She placed the wand next to the Staff then reached into to the trunk once more.

"Next we have-"

Every one's eyes widened when she produced a sheathed Japanese Katana.

"Weapon foci."

She smirked at the reactions that she was receiving.

"A focus made into or from a weapon have very limited fields of magic that they are capable of, which are mostly offensive or damaging in some way, as one could guess. The idea actually originated from Japan." She gave Touji a pointed look, which he realized.

"They were created around the time when Magical creatures or Yokai, as they were often connected to or called. The idea was that the wielder would be able to focus spells into the blades in order to cause more damage to an opponent or enemy. They are still seen from time to time but not often enough to really be considered a common place focus, but they are still used in the battlefield." She said looking at Harry.

She placed the weapon on the table and produced the next foci.

Several pieces of Jewellery.

"I know what you're thinking." Alianna cut them off from saying anything.

"These aren't just jewelry, well they are to someone that can't use Magic. These are, as you can clearly see, Jeweled Foci. These Foci are strange in the way that they don't conform to the regular idea of a focus, where the spell comes out of the focus itself. Jeweled foci are commonly referred to as Touch Foci, as the user must touch the focus before performing the, so to speak, focus movement, these are commonly known as wand-movements to make it easier to understand.

"So by touching the jewels the wielder would be able to perform any regular spell, these have been common in places such as India where the women there are commonly seen with a jewel on their forehead." She touched the spot as she spoke. "Women were able to touch the jewel and then cast any spell that they needed to within an instant. Rings became common place, as did necklaces, because as the rest of the world continued rings and jewelry became common place for people of Nobility and importance, eventually this grew until everyone was wearing something around their neck or fingers, they were also good for assassins as they would be able to move around and use a spell undetected." She commented offhandedly as she placed the jewelry on the table.

The next thing that she pulled out looked like a pen, but it had a clear stone at the nib instead of a tip like a pen and was made of metal.

"What's that?" Selena asked, speaking for the first time in some time.

"This..." Alianna began with some drama "Is what's known as a Stele, or an inscription tool. These are made through a very special ritual and are connected to their maker, as they cannot be mass produced, in such a way that they could also be likened to a piece of your body, like an arm or leg."

This was shocking to everyone bar Valkyrie as she had known about these for some time.

"They were common for Magicals that used Runes for combat or enchanting, but they fell out of use for quite sometime until some time ago when they made a limited resurgence as they allowed runes to be engraved into a substance meaning that Rune masters were able to create permanent runes within a short time, though these Stele are also a focus similar to the Staff was.

"Centuries ago there were Magicals that were able to produce a small amount of magic from the tip of their fingers that was strong enough to leave a visible mist, this would allow them to draw runes and symbols in the air, using either their own magic or the ambient, natural, magic around them to sustain and produce the spell or enchantment that they were designed to do, though it was originally a skill that was used to entertain children it evolved one day when someone realized that instead of shapes runes were able to be drawn and used, it was revolutionary at its time."

Alianna placed the stele on the table and reached into the trunk once again, pulling out other magical foci, explaining the benefits and weaknesses of different types of Foci that she showed them. Harry noticed that there was a large rectangle shaped object sitting in the trunk.

"What's that?"

Harry asked, pointing at the object.

Alianna swallowed and looked at the group, as if she was weighing the pros and cons of telling them what it was. After a few seconds she picked up the cloth covered object and closed the trunk. She moved to another bench, cleared a few things and placed the object, still covered on the table. The group moved over to get a better look, Harry and Touji were closest.

Alianna sniffed and looked directly at Valkyrie.

"I will need an oath from you not to reveal what I am about to show you." She told her before looking at the others. "That goes for the two of you boys, I know that Happy and Sad over there aren't magical so it won't matter, I'll ensure that they can't share the information."

"Why can't you do that for all of us?" Valkyrie asked.

"Because it's family magic designed to work on Non-Magicals, it was designed around 180 AD, according to the family history, to protect allies that fought alongside the Potter Family when they fought in the Roman Legion in the civil war of 193 AD when they supported Septimius Severus in the Roman Senate. They were somewhat well known throughout Rome, as one of the few families that worked a commercial trade while also supporting the legion and sat on the Senate, one of the very few throughout all of Rome. As the family had multiple estates and businesses throughout Rome's territory and they made regular travels throughout it, meaning that they were able to pass along information, resources and soldiers without being discovered, though the addition of spell craft did help.

"The spell was designed to protect the person it was cast on from being forced to reveal the information that they were supposed to protect under duress, they were unable to share the information unless certain 'things' were in place. It was mostly the need of the Family ring and then using a spell to open the lock, so to speak, for a short period of time, when the ring is far enough away from the target the secret will lock itself again. There was also a third spell designed to completely release the lock and allowed the information to be shared freely if required."

"What is required of us, for the spell to work?" Selena asked.

"Nothing. You will know the information but will be unable to speak about it with someone that doesn't know it already unless the lock is open." Alianna explained.

Harley and Selena looked at each other and accepted.

A handful of minutes later and the oaths were given, the spell was cast.

"So why did we have to give an oath?" Valkyrie asked, her tone brokered no argument.

"Because this isn't the first time someone has come into my store with a grimoire, and I have fought, killed and stolen from people with Grimoires in the past. Being a Crafter I could not, in good conscious, not examine them and figure out how they worked." Alianna admitted.

Valkyrie's eyes narrowed.

It was not only against the law and considered a taboo, to take someone's grimoire. It was considered worse to steal one or kill for someone's book.

Alianna rolled her eyes.

"Grow up Cain, I am a hunted creature in most of the world and I've been alive in a time that required everyone to know how to kill and steal in order to survive." Alianna scolded the woman. "I wasn't able to completely work out how they worked but I was able to determine how to create something that allowed magic to be used in a similar state and way."

"How is something like that possible?" Valkyrie asked, now more interested than anything else.

Being someone that didn't receive a grimoire, and there being countless others that are the same, she was interested in being able to receive a grimoire that she was able to utilize in some way.

"The grimoire itself is the most difficult part to create, the one here-" Alianna patted the book that was still within the cover "Hasn't even been finished yet." Valkyrie raised an elegant eyebrow when she heard that said.

"Just to make something that could produce magic, since this is made without the core of a magical creature it relies completely on the magic of the caster, that being me in this case, to perform the spells that are within it unassisted; where as Wands, staves, and other foci use the wood to draw the magic to it and the core to focus the magic in order to perform spells.

"The grimoire itself pulls the magic, like a regular focus but it doesn't have the ability to focus the magic to utilize spells. The book can pull the magic but the wielder must focus the magic for the spells to be used, it will be difficult for those that cannot use wands, at least at this stage. But I cannot figure out how to get the book to work with different cores, like a wand, Staff or other foci would, and that's one of the few things that are holding me back. That's not even considering what it takes to make a grimoire that can be utilized by anyone, or even just for themselves."

Alianna had a distant and thoughtful look on her face, clearly thinking about something while reminiscing about the past.

"Why are you trying to make something like this Alianna?" Harry asked.

Alianna sighed deeply.

"There are a few reasons that I wanted to do this, but there are definitely reasons why I had to do something like this." She admitted. "But there is one main reason. The reason why I made the grimoire or even began to make it is because our head of house, the person who is in charge of the potter family-"

"Who?" Harry asked suddenly causing Alianna to blink, having been thrown off her train of thought.

"Uh…" Alianna shook her head to clear her mind. "In the British magical world each family that has been established and remained active, that means to have someone to continue the family name, for roughly two hundred years, which is about six generations minimum with a seventh on the way, is considered a House. It then continues to Houses that have made important contributions to the British Magical Community, either through creating spells, becoming a notable member of the Aurors or Hit wizards, or by becoming wealthy enough, to be given the title of Noble house.

"This entitles the family to a seat on the Wizengamot, the magical Government of England, as well as several other perks and privileges." Alianna stated. "Those that are known as Ancient houses have been around for much longer than other houses, though they may not be noble houses they receive some privileges from it.

"There are houses, such as the Potters, that are Known as Ancient and Noble houses. These are houses that have existed for long periods of time, like our own which we know has existed since the fall of Pompeii in 49 AD. The Potter Family started as a small family of Potters, they made clay to make pots and vases for storing things, obviously, but when Pompeii fell we were one of the few families that had someone able to use magic, which meant that they were able to protect themselves and others, being Merchants and they were able to do their craft anywhere and thus had a means of making money for food and things that they needed.

"They made their way throughout Europe, settling in England, which was known as Britannia at the time. After a while some of the family joined the legion and were stationed in Rome, where they were married and branched the family, creating a secondary line of the Potters, though the two intermarried when the Head of family wanted them to or two members fell in love on their own. The family wasn't as disconnected as others became.

"Anyway, as I was saying before. The head of the family gave me a task once I reconnected with the family after becoming a Vampire, I needed to do something that proved I was worth the Potter name. I had to prove that I was still a Potter at heart, so to speak." She saw the looks in the eyes of her guests and sighed.

"It was and still is a common command in our family, from the head of house, that someone, like myself, who becomes… corrupted, from lack of a better phrase, and becomes a Vampire or Werewolf, or even another creature or being, that they need to prove that they are still themselves or still hold the values that the family requires. Those that can't are forced to leave the family and find their own way through life, commonly being made to take the name of one of the families that married into ours and died out, since the name lives through ours."

"That's Barbaric!" Selena roared.

Alianna shrugged. "I can see it that way, and many of our family did over the years. But each are given a home, though its not always very nice, some financial assistance to get them started and commonly a job somewhere nearby. It seems barbaric, I agree, but its better than what other families do where they simply banish and disown them, ensuring that they cannot even use their own last name and stripping away the family magic."

Alianna shivered when she mentioned stripping the family magic.

"What happens when that happens?" Surprisingly, Harley asked.

"It's hard to explain really." Alianna admitted "Think of loosing the ability to control your arm, or hardly being able to pick up a cup with your hand. We're so used to doing everything with a certain level of strength that our bodies don't even need to think about it, but when the connection to our family is forcibly taken from us, the strength that old families like ours draws from, we lose the strength a feel weak and we're never able to get it back, those lucky enough to be reconnected to it are always able to feel the lesser amount of magic that they are given from the connection. Having something forcibly taken like that, it leaves scars on our magic that we can't get rid of.

"My task was to create an object that would display the best of All the Potter Families qualities."

One could definitely hear the capital letters on 'all'.

"Our qualities are; Power, we all have power, in different ways, but in them we are stronger than most if not all. Intelligence, we are smart, some in learning, others in politics, some in combat but we never stop learning. Creativity, we are an artisan family, making things is in our blood. Honour, we are soldiers and fighters, we all act as we should, we are all warriors in life. Valour, we are not without fear, but we keep walking forward to our goals." Alianna explained.

"There are others but Power, Intelligence, Creativity, Honour and Valour, are how the family acts. Though it isn't one of our spoke traits Unity, especially to the family, is important. My father always said to me 'If we are all fighting for ourselves then there are no winners, only dead losers. When people stand together Nations can fall, mountains can be moved and miracles can be performed.' I've lived by those words. I want to make the grimoire so I can show that I've truly earned my place as a Potter once more."

No one spoke when they heard Alianna speak.

She spoke with such devotion and emotion that it was hard to do anything other than just listen to what she was saying. That is… until Harry spoke.

"But you were already accepted back, weren't you?"

All eyes locked on the Raven-haired boy.

"What do you mean Harry?" Harley asked.

"She was already accepted back by the family magic, right?" he asked her "Otherwise I wouldn't have felt the connection when I saw you the first time."

Alianna smiled softly at Harry.

"You're too smart for your own good." She said softly "But I wasn't stripped of my connection to the family, thankfully, despite the wills of the then Lord Potter and his wife, our head of house isn't one to simply disown anyone that becomes a Vampire or Werewolf."

Selena spoke next.

"You've said Head of house and Lord Potter, as if they were different things. While also speaking as if the Lord had been long dead, which considering your age isn't too far of a leap, but you also speak as if the Head of House Potter has never changed. Why?"

Alianna groaned.

"Why'd you have to pick up on that?" She almost whined

"Ok, our family is somewhat strange in Magical England. Our head of house and Lord are two separate people. This is strange because the person that holds the title of Lord Potter is the one that sits on the family seat on Magical Government, now it's considered strange because the Potter family is still one of the largest living families in the community, having the main family, that's the Lord, or in this case Lady, Potter and their son and family, wife and children I mean, but we also have two branch families as well.

"One of the branch families, under the headship of Simon Potter, is the face of the Potter Family in Muggle England, seeing as he hold the position of Earl of Kent, the family was actually forced to hold the title of 2nd earl until the start of the 1900's, anyway- Simon holds the position as Lord Potter Earl of Kent, there is also Oliver Potter and his wife Lara, they are the Heads of the Branch Family, which has two families. Meaning there are three branch families, with two under Oliver's purview. Then there is the main family, the last head was Charlus Potter, he was the last Lord Potter, married to Dorea Potter-"

"That's my Grandmother, I think." Harry couldn't help himself to but state.

Alianna's mouth hung open, having stopped mid-sentence, as she stared at the young Potter.

"Say again?"

"I think, that's my grandmother." He repeated. "I had to go to the hospital a while back and they needed to make me a file as I hadn't had one. They used some of my blood to identify who I was and who my family was and it showed me, my biological parents and my Grandparents."

"It showed Lord Charlus Johnathan Potter and Lady Dorea Grace Potter Nee Black, as his paternal Grandparents, with James Charlus Potter as his father." Selena voiced, as she remembered better than he did.

Silence reigned for several agonizing moments.

"Fuck me dead." Alianna cursed sharply.

Harley devolved into a fit of giggles at the sudden outburst.

"You'll have to meet her." Alianna stated.

"Why?" Selena cut in sharply. "I don't know what kind of Woman she is but I don't want Harry anywhere near the people that abandoned him with his relatives."

Alianna focussed on Selena.

"Who was he left with?" She asked.

"A family known as the Dursley's, they were Lily Potter's family." She stated.

Alianna cleared her throat.

"I think we should talk about this at another time when we have a chance to talk about everything properly, for now…" Alianna looked at Harry "What kind of focus are we making you?"

"I'm not sure." Harry replied.

Alianna nodded.

"Not many do, don't worry." She soothed. "I think we should start you off with a wand, we'll work out if you would be suited for anything else when I'm teaching you what you need to know."

"Hang on." Selena piped up. "We haven't decided if you're going to be teaching him anything.'

"It's fine by me."

Selena reared around and glared at Harley.

"Harley!"

"What?" Harley looked at Selena, her eyes oddly serious and clear. "It's his family, Selena. I'm not going to keep him from it. It was whoever put him with _that_ family, that is to blame about what happened to him."

Selena practically gawked at Harley's rebuke.

"I've already had to send Lucy to live with my sister, who wont even let me see her because we both don't want her to be linked to me as her mother, I will not, I will _never_ stop him from learning about his family and if that means he speaks to his grandmother then I will let him meet her."

The amount of venom that Harley used when speaking to Selena shocked everyone, Harry in particular.

"I have a sister?" He asked meekly.

Harley spun around and looked at Harry, nothing but love in her eyes, not even a hint of the venom that she had just moments before. She scooped him up in a hug.

"You've asked several times why Red and I wanted to keep you with us and we've never given you a direct answer in the past, but… Yeah, I have a little girl, she was eighteen months when you appeared. Both Red and I can't have kids anymore, me because I won't send another away and she can't have them, so when you came into our lives and wanted to stay with us we didn't have it in our hearts to send you away."

There was a sniff and Harley smiled when she felt Harry nestle himself deeper in her arms crying.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, hope you like the newest update.**

 **This is just a heads up;  
There are several things happening in my personal life and as such i'll not be updating this story for a bit. Most likely the next update will be May or June. I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY THERE IS SOOOOO MUCH I WANT TO DO WITH THIS!  
**

 **There will be some editing work done to the previous chapters, and some of my other stories within that time so i may post a notice before another chapter so be on the look out for it.  
**

 **Take a look at my profile, i've started a new collection of stories, mostly just ideas that i've come up with and want to put to the world, they're free for people to make their own of so take a look, just leave a review or send me a message so i can list the versions that others make so that people can read them.**

 **MANY THANKS!**


	10. Chapter 9

" _Gordon, NO!" a deep voice called out the next thing anyone knew or saw, was Gordon was flying through the air and shadows consumed Harry and Harley as if it were a form fitting wetsuit. Everyone stopped and stared at the statuesque Harry and Harley that was made out of shadows._

 _Then just as suddenly as it had happened the shadow dropped into the ground and melded with the already existing shadows, as if it had never been there at all._

"What the hell was that?" Gordon groaned as he was helped to his feet by a pair of officers, his wife and child were quickly there wrapping their arms around him and fussing over him.

"It seems that Harley has gotten her hands on a Metahuman with a dangerous control over shadows." A familiar deep voice replied, drawing attention to the owner.

"Batman." Gordon greeted uncaring as to the actions of various officers that had gone for their sidearms.

Without acknowledging the greeting the man walked over to where Harley had vanished from and pulled something from his belt before kneeling down to examine the area, completely ignoring the other people around him.

"Jim are you ok?" the commissioners wife fussed over him.

"Barbara." He attempted to get her attention.

"Tell me where that miscreant hurt you."

"Barbara." Jim attempted to get her attention again, but his tone was noticeably harsher, though that went unnoticed by the woman.

"I can't believe that woman."

"Barbara."

"The nerve of some people, I swear."

"Barbara." He near growled.

"She stole the baton you gave me and-"

"Barbara!" he was actually starting to get angry at his wife, though it seemed that she didn't realize but his daughter did.

"Who would raise a child to do such a thing as that, I swear I shou-"

"Barbara Eileen!" He roared the sound of which echoed throughout the now silent mall, even the unknown Batman looked up from what he was doing and at the couple.

"I know you've just been in a stressful situation." His wife attempted to speak but he spoke over her, mustering all the authority he had as Police Commissioner. "But that does _not_ give you the right to judge people so carelessly or-"

 _He was afraid._

Jim blinked at the sudden quiet and meek voice that he heard, it had been so sudden as it snuck up on him that it completely derailed his train of thought. He looked down to his daughter, whom had spoken, and saw that she was looking towards Batman while hugging her father's side.

"And so, he should have been." Barbara sniffed.

Jim shot his wife a warning glare before picking up his daughter and holding her against his hip, something he hasn't done in quite some time to her.

"What do you mean Pumpkin?" he asked her softly.

"That boy…" she said dreamily.

"What about him?"

"He was scared." She repeated.

Jim nodded slowly. "I would have been too if Quinn was holding you or your mom."

His daughter shook her head, her red hair moving through the air avidly.

"He was scared of you, daddy." She told him. "He didn't want to leave her; the big meanie was trying to keep her away from him."

This was new to Gordon and added another layer to the mysteriousness of Harley Quinn.

"Scared of me?" he asked his daughter. She nodded without looking at him.

"He was holding onto her and she was holding him when Joker tried to get them." She told her father.

"There doesn't seem to be anyway of tracking them down." A deep gravelly voice cut in.

All eyes locked onto the Batman's form.

A dark cowl covered the top half of his face leaving only his mouth visible, his eyes were concealed by the cowl leaving only empty milky white as a way of knowing where to look. His cape obscured half of his body as it rested over one of his shoulders, from what remained the suit that he wore there was only two things that really stood out against the dark ashen grey body armour, the bat insignia that adorned his chest and the off coloured amber-yellow utility belt that he wore.

"There is no remaining energy signature that I can detect, nor any chemical traces outside of the normal that I've been able to detect." Batman told the group.

"What does that mean Batman?" Jim asked as he placed his daughter back on the ground, knowing that he'd have to keep working.

"That means that the young boy has powers and I'm not going to be able to track him as I normally would." Batman replied.

Knowing that Batman nothing more to say Jim decided that it would be best that he allowed Batman to get to work, even though most of the officers disagreed with allowing a vigilante to do anything they weren't really able to do anything to stop him as there had been a noticeable change in crime rates throughout the city, most of the larger crimes that they were forced to attend were criminals that Batman actively tracked down and attempted to keep locked away, kindly leaving evidence for the police so they were able to arrest the criminals.

He just beat them up and left them restrained for the cops to pick them up.

"Keep me informed." Jim replied, though it sounded like an order it was more of a request since Batman didn't work for the Gotham PD.

Batman lifted his arm that had previously been obscured by the cape and shot something into the air connected to a cable before being pulled after it a few seconds later.

* * *

" _You know what_ _ **Bruce**_ _." Selena Rebutted._

" _What." He growled._

" _The kid was badly hurt and I'm not telling you any more, so go fuck yourself." She stormed off._

Unseen to Selena Bruce narrowed his eyes and kept to the shadows as he moved to position himself by a cement pillar near her car, thankful that his scrambler was keeping the CCTV cameras in the area unfocussed. While he wasn't happy about the way that the days has played out he did enjoy Selina's company and she was strictly a thief so he wasn't going to try his hardest to apprehend her since she never _really_ hurt anyone… too badly.

Plus, it helped that she wasn't wanted for murder or violent actions.

He was about to grab her when she stopped walking.

"Actually, I will tell you one more thing."

"What."

" _Stay away from the kid, I can tell he hasn't had many good things happen to him. I can't say much about their life choices, but I can tell you that they won't let anyone hurt him. Harley will spoil him and Ivy will keep her in line. Let them have this Bruce, for his sake, not theirs."_

 _Without waiting for an answer Selena threw on her discarded shirt and slid into the driver's seat, she didn't know if he'd leave them alone, but she'd do what she could for them._

Bruce remained in the shadows, allowing her to drive away unimpeded.

" _For Selena to be this protective over someone like Harley and the boy…_ " Bruce thought to himself as he watched her taillights fade away. " _There is something I'm missing. I'll need to look into the footage of the day closely._ "

He pressed a button on his belt and waited for several seconds to be greeted with the low energetic hum of his Batmobile to stop in front of him with tyres squealing from the sudden reduction in speed.

With practised ease Batman leaped into the air and land in the driver's seat with expert positioning and control, the roof of the vehicle let out the familiar sound of a low steam-like hiss sealing the compartment from the outside air, something he'd needed to set up to protect himself from Jokers laughing gas some time ago. It now served as a minor way for him to tell if there was anything wrong with the customized vehicle as the small hiss wouldn't be heard if the compartment was compromised in anyway.

He tore out of the underground parking lot and expertly navigated the busy Gotham Street traffic as he made his way back to his base.

As he drove he mentally recounted everything that he'd experienced throughout the small encounter with Harley and Selena.

The sound of his communication system activating disrupted his thoughts.

"Sir?" an aged English accent asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Not really Alfred." Bruce replied. "This day has me with more questions than answers concerning Harley Quinn and Catwoman's Relationship."

"Relationship?" The aforementioned Alfred replied. "Was she not already in a… cordial relationship with Miss Ivy?"

"Not that kind of relationship Alfred." He told the gentlemen. "This is a different sort. Have you seen the footage I sent to the computer?"

"I have sir." He confirmed. "I must say the young lad is quite bold to stand up to the Joker as he did."

"Not Bold Alfred." Bruce countered. "It seemed more like he was accustomed to being in such a position."

Alfred blinked as he processed what he was told.

"What are you suggesting Master Bruce?"

"I'm suggesting nothing, merely pointing out a fact."

"If what you say is true, then he should have some kind of record, though he seems a bit young to be a criminal." Alfred commented.

"I don't think he's a criminal Alfred, but there is a chance he could become one. An especially powerful one as well."

Unseen to Bruce, Alfred was watching the scene where the young boy and Harley were surrounded by shadows and vanished without a trace.

"What of the Woman sir?" He asked. "The one who unleashed the… Snow?"

Bruce remained silent as his eyes looked at the footage that was playing in the corner of the screen.

"Unknown." He replied, cutting the connection before Alfred could say anything.

He drove in silence for the rest of the journey back to his base, it was nearly time for Bruce Wayne to be seen in public… After all tonight was the big game.

* * *

Alianna was walking through her store, tidying things up as she went. She'd just had a rather busy morning with multiple people placing orders for their foci to be tweaked, which would mean several hours of work with each person attempting to align the foci with their core. She had several people coming in to pick up orders needing final adjustments and several people coming in for premade and training wands.

While she didn't like pre-making wands, they were useful for people to use as a secondary focus, mostly utilized by Law Enforcement and a very select group of clienteles. She did enjoy seeing the faces of Young Magicals when they received their own Training wand, or Training Foci, as a customer had requested a touch focus designed for training purposes. The smiles that the children had when wands let out sparks or bubbles when they held them the first time lightened her aged spirit.

The last three months of teaching the young Potter were some of the more interesting ones that she'd had in some time. Since she had lost her own girls she'd only trained a small handful of Potter Family members in different fields, she hadn't had the chance that her newest student had provided her in centuries. It didn't hurt that it would put her in favour of the current Lady Potter, Dorea Potter Nee Black, and hopefully allow her another meeting with the Head of the Family. Alianna had only met the current head thrice in her six hundred years of life. The first was when the Plague had struck England.

The head of house had called all family members to the Family Manor where they were looked over for signs of the plague and to coordinate with other magical families as well as non-magical groups in order to combat the plague.

The second time was when she had been revealed as a newly turned Vampire, both she and her "Sire", the one that turned her into a vampire, had been called in order to explain the reasons and what would happen to her.

The third time was completely out of the blue. She had returned to her small shack, concealed in the French wilderness and behind strong wards, after a day of collecting items for her Craft when he had knocked on her door, scaring the hell out of her. The mysterious head of house had greeted her warmly as if it hadn't been countless years since their previous meeting, he had enquired about her life and how she was coming with her craft. He revealed that he had been keeping track of her and many other members of the family over the years and wanted to check in on her. He had been pleased with what she'd done with her life and had left that night. The next day there was an elegantly carved trunk sitting in the middle of her home with a letter.

Her head of house had carved it by hand when she'd been forced to walk away and find her path with her immortal life, he'd somehow known that she would succeed with the challenge handed to her and made the trunk for when she was ready to receive it, so the letter had said. She opened the trunk to see it had been filled to the, clearly expanded innards, limit with Potion ingredients, wood, books, various pieces of Magical animals.

She couldn't shake the feeling once she'd met harry that she would meet the Head of House for a forth time because of him.

Alianna walked into the backroom of her store and looked around, she saw Harry sitting on the windowsill couch reading from the Grimoire again, it was a familiar sight to her as he did it often.

{Line}

 _The front lines are filled with men of all colour, something many said wouldn't happen within their lifetime… I know it sounds cynical, if that's the right word, of me to be writing this, considering all that I know about the events that will unfold from this battle. But I am here, as are two of my sons and a few of their sons, their daughters and the other children are safely hidden away behind wards protected by some of the freemen and freewomen of the plantations._

 _I prey that they will be alright._

 _We've lost many good men in the last few days so I guess that I am feeling pessimistic about the fight. Its been over seventy years since the witch trials and the concealment of Magic from the eyes of the nonmagical. Most of the family do not realize why it is we were following along with the other Muggles and owning Plantations to amass wealth… In truth I am sure that there's more to it that we haven't been told by our head of house._

 _The information that I've received from him… or her, who knows_ what _the Potter Head is. Though… Thinking about it I cannot be sure that I really care. They've been there when the family needed them, I've read enough about our history through this book which was passed to me, knowing that it would be added to the grimoire for the Potter that comes after me, I beg for it not to be my sons. We're fighting our war, they do not need to be involved in another._

…

…

 _I guess the days of fighting and sneaking around are getting to me…_

Harry…

 _The British, my countrymen, are preparing for the final confrontation. Benjamin and I are resting in our tent, the foolish veteran took a bullet for me just hours ago. I told him that he needed to watch out for himself more, he has children at home as I do, only they need him more than my children do. My boys are grown men with their own children, they do not need to be worrying about me._

 _Thankfully Maria stocked my satchel with potions and salves that would work on Muggles._

 _He, thankfully, used some of the healing salve to ease the pain from the bullet. I used a light healing charm to prevent the wound from festering but there's not much I can do without exposing Magic to him._

 _While I am fighting for the freedom of this new land and am a member of a prominent family in England, I know that the Magical communities are watching the battle. Perhaps they are fighting amongst each other as we are without informing others such as myself about it. It isn't unlikely_ Harry _that they are. They wouldn't be content with letting us fight it out and following the winner._

 _There's some kind of plan that Benjamin's been cooking up with the rest of the revolution leaders, I'm not sure about what it is that they are planning but I know that if he's involved then there's going_ Harry I'm talking to you _be difficult to pull off but it will pay off in the end._

 _I pray that my sons will live to see their families grow old.  
Even if I don't._

"Harry James Potter, I'm talking to you!"

Harry's head snapped up from the book. His eyes landed on the clearly annoyed form of Alianna staring at him.

"Sorry Alianna, I was reading something interesting." He admitted.

"Again." She huffed. "Kid you know you need to be aware of things around you more, you can't let one thing occupy your mind so much that you're not paying attention to the world around you."

"Sorry." He replied meekly.

"At the academy, the school, as I've told you, has a very different approach to students and their use of magic against another student. We've talked about this." Harry nodded, remembering the conversation. "I've told you some of the stories about when I was there as a teacher and while there were very few fights in my classroom that doesn't mean there never were, there were plenty of fights right outside my classroom but few made it inside.

"Senior students and Teachers are always watching what the other students are doing, though they won't do anything until a fight goes too far, in their eyes, there are times when there won't be anyone around to help you. That's why you need to keep an eye on your surroundings." She told him. "Plus, your actions towards the Headmistress when you received your grimoire garnered more attention to yourself than you should have allowed."

"I told you I couldn't help it." he defended himself.

"I know Harry, I know." She soothed him. "But that doesn't mean that others will overlook your actions, more than a few times people have been sneaking around trying to learn more about you and me, thankfully the protections are stronger than people think. But it won't mean anything until you're strong enough to do things for yourself."

"I'll work on it." He said, to which she just smiled and rubbed his head.

"C'mon you've got school tomorrow, so why don't you head on home and get some rest. I'm sure Harley will be waiting for you to be there."

Harry closed the grimoire with a snap and slid it into the leather holster that hung from his hip. It had been enchanted by Alianna with a blood lock, to prevent anyone that didn't have his blood from taking it from the holster, fastening charm, so it would attach itself to whatever belt he was wearing, a powerful tracking charm, just in case someone stole the holster while the book was in it and he wasn't wearing it, as well as a minor notice-me-not, to ensure that people would overlook the holster when he was walking around it was a standard enchantment used on wand holsters that worked wonders for a somewhat simplistic piece of magic. There were various other spells worked into the leather holster but he had no idea what they did but trusted his ancestor enough not to question her too much about them.

The holster looked more like a small bag, in truth. As the holster was simply big enough to hold the book and only the book with a leather flap that closed with a buckle. The aged leather gave it a very antique feel that he appreciated and was also monogramed with his Initials.

"I'll see you tomorrow after school, alright?" Alianna said as she gave Harry a hug.

"I'll come right here so we can go over some more training." Harry agreed.

"Make sure you keep your 'little problem' under control, I don't want to hear about you braining some idiot on the first day." She faux-pleaded.

"That was one time!" he whined loudly. "And I didn't brain him, I only broke his femur."

"Because you hit him with the mallet."

" _He_ was trying to mug us." Harry defended pointedly.

"He was asking for directions."

"I refuse to admit that he was a tourist." Harry was steadfast in his opinion. "Gotham city has one of the highest crime rates in America, no one comes to Gotham to go sightseeing. Metropolis, maybe. But not Gotham."

"You just don't want to admit you have issues." Alianna stated.

"Of course, I have issues!" Harry groaned.

"Ma even made a basic diagnosis before she had me speak to someone. Moderate abandonment issues, PTSD, Emotional instability, Anxiety attacks and a sprinkling of Bipolar just to make things interesting." His tone growing harsher as he spoke.

"I know I have issues and as you enjoy telling me, its because of these issues I have to watch over my shoulders now when I go to the academy, because I can't just be 'That new kid who happens to be a rare shadow elemental' I'm now 'That new kid who commands shadows and stands up against the headmistress without flinching, almost as if he's stronger than she is'."

Alianna knew she'd touched on something that he'd been working on, though she didn't mean it the way that he'd taken it she was the root of his current 'episode' and needed to help him pull back control.

Harry's episodes were something strange, from her perspective. Harry's episodes tended to be more violent then emotional, though it did tend to help when he was sparing against her learning how to wield a sword as well as that mallet that his mother had given him. His skill with said trademark weapon was rather strange and uncanny, but considering his parentage and history…

"Do you not think that was why I've been training you?" she countered. "The times we've spoken more about the people that will be attending the academy, the times we've spoken about the different ways to use your abilities to ensure that you've given yourself the best chances in a fight.

"You didn't even know how you would react in such a situation and as such I don't really think that your actions during the ceremony were all that out of character for you. I've seen you be pretty powerful and use pieces of magic that you've just learnt with masterful ease. Harry if anything, I think that there may just be a chance you're a prodigy in some areas of the magical arts."

Harry just looked at Alianna.

She smiled and shook her head. "Have you decided on the runes that you wanted? There are only a few that you can get at a time so it's better to figure out which few you want now so I can apply them before the start of the year."

"I've already gotten them all figured out." He replied.

"How many?" She asked.

"Six."

Alianna blinked just to make sure she heard him right.

"You do know that they'll hurt until they assimilate with you properly, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I can bear pain. It's the time until tomorrow that will hurt the most."

Alianna scoffed at the typical Potter attitude.

"That's the Potter Family Motto for you." She shook her head and finished mockingly " _Pain is easy, it's the waiting that will kill us instead"_

Harry smirked and squeezed the permanent portkey that he used to travel between the Greenhouse, as he'd taken to referring to the home he'd grown up in with Harley and Ivy, and the store.

* * *

The next day saw Harry standing at the Academy gates. He was wearing his usual Green Bandana holding back his ragged hair, he wore a matt black uniform with a white lining along the rim on the cuffs of his sleeves and a vertical white line going down the front of the uniform covering the zipper of the jacket, with a low backing that hung by his legs while the front covered his waist with an orange interior and a high collar.

Harry was wearing a black blazer with the school's crest on the breast pocket a white dress shirt with striped blue tie and grey slacks.

"How come you get to wear that uniform while I'm stuck with this one?" Harry asked not for the first time that morning.

Touji rolled his eyes.

"Because some classes have special uniforms that they wear to prevent certain rituals from being affected while wearing them. As Alianna has taught you there are many things that can affect rituals when wearing different materials, those same rituals can be better used when wearing certain materials as well.

"The uniform that I'm wearing identifies the Onmyou class, also known as the Japanese Spiritual Magics Class." Touji explained. "When you join one of the specialist classes or clubs you'll be allowed to wear the things that they let you. I looked into it and found that the blood magics class wear special Egyptian Cotton. the Shaman Magic class tend to wear animal hides that they hunt in the wild forests.

"The Necromancy class tend to wear dark clothing, they're the goths of the academy. All healing classes, or classes with healing magics tend to wear an armband with either the Cardecus, you know the staff with the two snakes wrapped around it." Harry nodded. "Or they have the Hospital Cross on display. Either way people wearing them tend to be watched more than anyone else."

"Why?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time in Touji's explanation.

"Because." He grinned "You have to know what causes an injury to treat it. How do you think they teach new healers?"

Harry shrugged.

"They use a Simulacrum, a false body, to practice on. They use curses on the body then trainees are taught to identify, then treat, cure or counter the curses that were used." He explained.

"How do you know all this?" Harry asked as he followed Touji through the academy grounds.

"I had an aunt that was a healer, she taught me some healing spells over the holidays last year. When she showed me the doll I asked her about it and she explained all the things that healers have to do in their training days."

Harry nodded.

"How's your training with your grimoire?"

"Odd." He replied.

"Oh?"

"My books not normal, apparently." He said. "Valkyrie said that normal books, like yours, are able to use one Element or style of magic, whereas mine isn't like that."

Touji gripped Harry's arm, stopping him from moving.

"Shut it." He said seriously as he looked around. "I'm pretty sure that we're being listened to and something like _that_ is big news to those that will come after you or me."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a reason why the academy is so varied in classes and why it has the reputation that it has." Touji said.

"Reputation?" Harry asked, he'd not heard about it.

Touji groaned.

"I would have thought that Alianna would have explained things to you but I guess not." He said looking around, he seemed to find what he was looking for and they ducked into a nearby ally.

Touji waved his wand in several different patterns and mumbled things that Harry couldn't hear. After a minute he nodded, satisfied with what he'd done.

"Alright. You need to listen and you need to listen very well Harry." He began. "The academy is _not_ somewhere that normal untrained Magicals attend for any reason like a normal Magic school. Roselia Academy is the most advanced school of Magic in this corner of the world, there are a limited amount of schools, maybe three others, that could come close to how advanced Roselia is.

"Roselia is also one of _The Most Dangerous_ Academies that throughout the world. The teachers are Masters of their fields there's no doubt about that. But it's the students themselves that define the academy. Valkyrie has explained the political side of it more or less I know that much, but that goes further than you'd think.

"Some of the teachers are also a part of the various groups that the students are a part of, meaning that they are more likely to sabotage your learning or kill you outright and blame it on it being your fault, Others will only let you attend their class if you are aligned with them or their allies.

"The academy is a minefield that can go off at any moment." Touji warned. "The school is constantly in a state of perpetual cold war between the largest factions within the academy."

"What Factions?" Harry asked.

"There are many factions, starting from ones that encompass classes, genders, species, race and countless other factors but the main ones you need to be careful and _not_ be roped into are The Dragons Talon, they're easily the most outspoken and visible group in the Academy they believe that we should take advantage of the appearance of people with powers and come out of hiding.

"The Great Library, they'll do anything to get their hands on obscure knowledge and grimoires are some of the most obscure pieces of information around after all they believe and it is widely accepted that knowledge is power.

"Blue Spirit, easily one of the most unknown groups since they work in complete silence, striking out whenever they wish and though they advocate for peace between Magicals and Mundanes they are more than willing to spread chaos if they so wish.

"There's also Aegis." Touji said.

"I know about them." Harry cut in. "I got some help from Miss Halliwell a while back and she said that she works with them, it was through her that I met Valkyrie."

Touji cocked his head to the side thinking over the new piece of information.

"Ok, that's both good and bad." He muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"It's good because Miss Halliwell is a very helpful person and truly believes in what Aegis represent, a shield to protect people. But it is also bad because you're technically indebted to Aegis, at worse, or Miss Halliwell, at best. It also means that they will have made a file about you and would have been keeping an eye on both you and Valkyrie." He told Harry.

"Oh…"

"Yeah."

"What about the last group?" Harry asked a moment later. "You haven't explained them yet."

"I know." Touji waved Harry's concern away. "The final group that you need to look out for are probably the most dangerous group of all. They are known, simply, as The Royal Families."

Harry blinked as Touji let the statement hang in the air.

"Are you waiting for something?" He asked the older boy a minute later.

Touji sighed. "Don't worry about it."

"O…Kay…"

Touji continued his explanation.

"The Royal Families are just what they sound like, group of families that have existed for centuries back unto forever within the Magical world. There are some members that haven't had a member of their house attend the Academy in years and there are some that send hopefuls every year by the drove only to be turned away.

"They aren't just small named families within the Mundane world as well there are families from all over the world that attend the academy, I know a few years ago there was a member of the Bonaparte family that Graduated."

"Bona-who?"

"Bonaparte." Touji corrected. "They're descendants of Napoleon Bonaparte, he's a major part of world history, he played a major role in world history at the end of the Eighteenth century. The Bonaparte Family aren't a major part of The Royal Families influence here or in America, but with in the French Magical world they play a large part with their Government.

"I'm sure that you can at least understand just how dangerous a single family is now, Yeah?" Touji asked. "And the other families that are a part of the collective are just as dangerous and powerful as they are, actually they are more dangerous than that.

"That's not even taking into consideration what a family as long lived as one as your own could have amassed, knowledge wise."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, now he was starting to get confused.

"Well…" Touji looked at his watch. "I think we can talk about this in a more open area, we'll talk about the political dangers after school when Alianna can help explain it."

Harry just nodded, he knew that there were things that needed to be explained by certain people because they knew more about it all together and Alianna would be the perfect person to explain it. That was mostly because she was centuries old but more so because she was smart about politics and the like.

They moved out of the alley way and started making their way to wherever Touji was leading Harry to.

"OK, there are a variety of Families that are connected with the collective of Royals. They span some families that have been erased from Mundane history, others that were solely based in the Magical world or families that are partially in both worlds existing simultaneously." He began as they walked.

"Europe, specifically Germany and the like, have had several royal families existing at the same time, often fighting with each other for supremacy. Each family had their own armies and some still have a form of them today. The Royal Families are a political mess in and of itself, each family having their own agenda and their own allies within the Royals and outside of them as well.

"The ones that I know from Europe are; The Kessler Family, A family of warriors, knights and acclaimed protectors of peace. The Nebosja family, A family of death and danger, a family of Grimms. The Renard family, who are currently the ruling family of Germany. The house of Kronenberg in Vienna. Gaudot, a minor family that serves another that I'm unclear on. The house of Krug, enforcers for the Kronenberg house, notorious for their use of weapons and Magic.

"In Japan there is the Imperial house, the only ruling family of Japan, dominating in the Magical and Mundane world. But they have several families that work under them and they themselves have families under them. The imperial clan doesn't have an actual clan name and are just referred to as the Imperials.

"But the clans most predominantly under them are the Minamoto Clan, made up of 21 Cadet branches, the Taira clan, with 4 Cadet branches of the Imperial family, The Fujiwara clan and the Tachibana Clan."

Harry's head was starting to spin with all the different things that he was learning from Touji, though he had to admit it was confusing when Touji went into describing the different groups that were 'at silent war' with each other within the Royal Families. Which prompted a question that Harry had been meaning to ask the boy.

"How do you know so much about the Royals?"

Touji blinked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't explain that." He mused. "Well the Tsuchimikado Family have been allied with the Imperial family of Japan for centuries, so much so that several of the men and women from both families have married into either side. My Mother was from the Imperial family while my father was a minor fourth son of the Tsuchimikado branch family."

"Huh?"

Touji chuckled.

"My father was the fourth son of his house, meaning he has three older brothers. He was a minor son because he didn't become anything of major importance or with Political power to help the family. The branch family is the family of any child not born of the first-born son or chosen heir."

"I don't get it." Harry stated.

"Ok…" Touji thought for a moment, thinking on how to explain it to the younger boy. "Let's see if this makes sense. In the Bronze Age, the medieval time, there was a king and queen, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Well if they had multiple children they would be called 'The first Prince', typically meaning the first-born son, 'The Second Prince', meaning the first Prince's younger brother and so on. Got that?"

Harry nodded again.

"Well, if the first prince became king and had his own family his son would then be 'The first Prince' meaning next in line for the throne and not the kings brother. At that time, it would make the second prince a branch family, a family that branches off from the main family."

"Like a tree?" Harry asked.

"It's a simple way of looking at it but yes." Touji agreed. "The trunk of the tree would be the main family and all the others would be the branch families. Understand?"

Harry nodded. "It's confusing."

"That's politics." Touji deadpanned. "You'll need to learn it eventually. But I think I should explain something else."

"Like what."

"The main reason why there's so much danger in the academy."

Harry was now completely focussed on what Touji was saying, more so than before.

"At the academy the different groups can't just strike out at each other in the open, that would cause chaos and a literal war, so as a result of that the academy has, over the years, developed a position of power that very few could rise up to achieve.

"It has many names but everyone has come to know them simply as 'The Divine Emperors'."

The amount of weight that those words had hit Harry like a freight train. He didn't know why but something triggered within him, within his soul or his Magical core he couldn't tell but somehow, he knew that the Divine Emperors were important to his future.

"The Divine Emperors rarely fight amongst themselves but their words carry a lot of weight around the academy, even with the staff and Headmistress of the Academy herself. Which is mostly because all the political factions pay donations to the school and the various groups and classes that are here."

"Woah…" Harry breathed.

"Yeah, like I said, it's a political mess."

"No kidding."

Touji ruffled Harry's hair.

"Anyway, here we are."

Harry looked around, they were standing in front of a large, rather plain building. He looked at Touji in confusion.

"This is where you first year students will have your orientations and learn important things about the academy before going to your classes." Touji explained. "Us older students have our own classes starting soon so I need to get going. I'll meet up with you later, yeah?"

"Sure…" Harry said, clearly nervous about going alone.

"Don't worry about it Harry. You'll be fine." Touji grinned. "Ja Ne."

He started walking off. Harry was about to call out to him when Touji vanished in a crack of lightning.

"Woah!" Harry blinked.

* * *

 **Hello everyone!**

 **Sorry for being away for a while, and posting a not finished chapter. It has been mostly complete but I hit a wall when i was writing it so i'm posting it anyway because i've let it sit on my computer for too long. There will be a few Time skips coming up.**

 **To respond to a few reviews;**

 **Yes, Harry will be going to Hogwarts for the Tri-wizard.**

Stayblessed: **In response to your review, thanks for the honest opinion :) as to the personality change... Did you really think that a kid who has been branded with the cross on his chest** _wasn't_ **going to have some issues, especially when raised by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy?**

 **I'll attempt to get the next chapter up soon.**


	11. Chapter 10

"The Boy is attending the Academy."

The council sat around the table.

"It's interesting…" a deep baritone came from the head of the table.

All eyes looked up and saw who was speaking.

"Interesting?" Council member 7 asked.

"Indeed." Baritone replied. "The boy is young but at the same time he's the being closest to my own age."

"How do you mean?" 2 Asked.

Baritone steepled his fingers and looked over the council.

"You know my origins, or at least enough to know what I am capable of doing. But there are things that I do not even know. But I do remember plenty of things over the course of my long life. This boy has fought in as many battles as I did during the evolution to the common age of mankind, he has fought in all of the greatest battles you could ever think of, throughout Human history.

"He has fought as a soldier, a politician and as a revolutionary. We have fought on the same side many times, with either one of us as a superior officer, myself more than he, as the superior. Though he would deny it he was commonly my better, but he always prefers to be within the heat of battle while I do not. I've always known what he could do, both as a warrior and as a ruler.

"The boy, as a warrior, is formidable and is a dangerous opponent when he has a blade, I know of few better than he skilled enough with a sword, spear or bow, that can survive in the middle of a battle field and walk away without taking anything more than minimal damage.

"As a ruler he was both kind, and terrible. He garnered the respect of those he was ruling over. He was kind to those that he had never met, be they nobility or they poor beggars on the street. He was terrible when needed being both cruel and righteous to those that broke the laws of his land. I witnessed him barely shed a tear when a man begged for his life after stealing a loaf of bread before ordering the mans offending hand be taken from him, then turn around and send for a weeks' worth of ratios to be handed to the mans family."

"If that is true." 7 replied "Then why do you not remove him now? Surely an enemy slain before they stand against you is an enemy no longer."

"That is true." Baritone replied. "But there is the how, that must be brought into question."

"Are there not enough criminals in Gotham city that will perform the deed?" Another council member scoffed "That makes this no more than a matter of money, does it not? I can name more than seventeen of our own people that will be more than happy to add another name to their list."

There were sounds of agreement amongst the council members present. They could understand the logic behind the comment, it would be a simple thing to do. Tell one of their men who to kill and wait for the confirmation.

"It is not that simple." Another council member's voice broke through the noise.

"What makes you say that? How is it not simple?" Baritone's humoured tone questioned.

"The how." He replied.

Baritone allowed a rare smirk to appear on his scared visage. Not that it was seen by the council.

"Then perhaps you best explain the how to us."

Council member 9 nodded once.

"The how, in question, is not the question of 'How to kill' it is a question of 'How did this boy become this respected Warrior?' isn't that right?"

Baritone nodded. "Indeed."

"It is something that has eluded me since he told me about himself, though I know he did not tell me everything. Even when we were friends, we were enemies." Baritone told them.

"We spoke more than once about the place he was from and he was very careful with his words, but eventually he told me about how he knew the things he knew and the place he called home.

"The reason I do not reach out and remove him is because I do not know how he appeared in the past and while we know that there are more than a few time travellers throughout the years; Zoom, Kadabra, Fate even Batman. The one thing that is common for those that go through time, either the short way or those like me, who take the long way, is that we know that we can shape the future however we wish.

"But the past is something that we cannot change. It is even more dangerous to try changing the past when there is someone from the future that we create, over time we both chose a path of diverging ideals. He wished to create one future and I wished to forge one that was different to his, our greatest argument started the greatest of wars known to man. Until I was defeated and he vanished from the world once more, assuming a simple guise and travelling throughout the land until we met once more in battle."

There was a respectful silence as their leader swam through the rich memories of ancient times unknown to the council, it was not often that their leader spoke of a man that he clearly respected, it was a rare sight that they relished in as it reminded them why they were following such a man.

"My Lord, If I may ask."

He gave a slight nod.

"By which name were you known as?"

Their leader chuckled and rose from his seat, signalling that their conversation was over as he walked to the heavy oak doors. He placed a hand on the door, about to push it open when he replied to the question.

"Khan."

And without any explanation he strode out of the chamber.

* * *

 _Gotham City  
July 3rd 02:30_

It was a peaceful night in the Upper Middle-class district of Gotham City. It was an overcast night blocking out the light that would have graced Gotham's ancient stone gargoyle lined high rises and apartment buildings. The overcast sky filled with dark black clouds forewarning of a coming storm did not reflect the light that the city generated, allowing for the deep shadows that the city was famed for. amongst other things, to be particularly dark for the night.

Seated in one of those shadows, concealed by the darkness of the night and something more mystical was a young man wearing dark clothing. His face was obscured by a pair of what looked like Dark Black Combat Goggles and a plain black half face mask, completely obscuring his identity.

He reached up and used his middle finger to lightly draw a clockwise circle, unseen by those not using the goggles, the image through the glasses zoomed in, allowing the concealed man to see further, to see through the windows of the museum across the street. He watched as guards made their rounds, listening to them through a signal jacker connected to a standard issue walkie talkie. He sat there in the darkness watching and listening to them as they moved through out the night.

Sometime later he had figured out their routes and times that they would move through the building.

He lifted himself to his feet and slipped the walkie onto his belt, stretching out his stiff joints as he rose.

He groaned as his neck popped.

"Maximum effort." He grunted as he stepped off the rooftop, dropping twelve floors to the ground.

Just as he would have touched the ground the shadows of the building he was about to land in, to a trained eye, became darker and rippled like a pond in the night. He snapped his arms to his chest, forming an X with his arms not dissimilar to a trained diver dropping from a helicopter into the ocean, taking a deep breath he dropped into the puddle of darkness.

He moved through the darkness, unrestrained by concepts such as Gravity, Space or any other simple law that existed on earth, even time was barely a concept within this realm.

Looking around the world that he now inhabited was barely a shadow of the one he was just in. The very ability to transition between what could have been called reality and the shadow reality, if one could call it that, was something very misunderstood, even to him.

As he floated in the darkness he imposed his will on the shadowy world he was in, forcing it to take a near solidified form of the Gotham city that he had just inhabited. Focusing on the darkness… on the shadows of this world to become a perfect mirror image of the shadows that exist in Gotham city, the area of Gotham City that he had inhabited. It took a few moments but the shadows changed their forms and solidified into the mirror image of Gotham city.

Once the shadows had solidified he willed himself forward moving from his position.

'As close to being Superman as I will ever get…' he smirked, this was the reoccurring thought he had whenever he travelled this way.

He 'flew' through the world of shadows, moving as quick as he could as he focussed on maintaining the shape of the world.

It was barely a few minutes before he needed to resurface into the 'real' world once more. Considering all the amazing things that he could do in a world made of shadows that he had predominate control over there was a downside, something that he couldn't ignore only devise a way around or assist. That was the biological need to breathe.

He had experimented with taking things into the shadows with him, but nothing that he had taken into the shadows had allowed him to breathe as if he was in the real world. So, whenever he needed to breathe he was forced to emerge from the shadows enough to refill his lungs with oxygen.

It took two emergences from the shadows to reach the museum, another small trip following and he was now inside the building without having tripped any alarms. It took him a few moments to reorientate himself to the differences between the shadow dimension and the real world.

Adjusting the duffle bag that he was carrying he made his way through the Museum, carefully avoiding the cameras and guards, using the shadows as best he could. There were very few times that he needed to completely immerse himself into the shadows and only one time when he needed to enter the world of shadows completely to avoid one particularly thorough guard.

'Newbie.' He shook his head at the guard as he stepped out of the shadows.

Ensuring that the guard was gone and mentally recalling the estimated positions of the guards that he could see from where he had been sitting, he made his way through the Museum. There were few guards that came across his path. There was only one that he needed to deal with, even that was a simple matter.

He had dropped into a shadow, using the darkness to propel himself higher than he would normally be able to do on his own by solidifying a wall of darkness itself and using it to push himself off, using the momentum to increase the power of the kick to the head that knocked out the guard. He quickly made a soft platform out of the guard's own shadow to nullify the sound of him slamming into the floor.

'Sorry mate' He thought to himself as he looked at the guard. 'But you're just in the wrong place.'

He took off at a jog it taking only a few quick minutes to reach the Roman Gladiator Exhibit.

Upon arrival he looked around for anything that stood out to him, but there were several interesting things to look at.

'Might have to come back during the day.' He mused as he looked around.

He reached up and touched a button on the left side of his goggles changing the lenses of his black goggles into a dull purple. Had anyone been near him they would have noticed the sharp intake of breath when he saw the numerous glowing aura being emitted by a number of items within the exhibition.

'No wonder they hate museums.' He mused as he looked around.

He looked around and saw the items that he had been sent to recover. Double checking to ensure that he'd not mistaken them for something else.

 _Spartacus' Retiarius Net;  
Once belonged to the Thracian Gladiator Spartacus.  
Assumed as Dangerous: Extreme – Immobility / Solidification.  
(Conditional Activation; Tactile connection – Placed over a target)_

 _Nero's Lyre;  
Belonged to the ruler of Rome during the time of the Great fire of Rome.  
Confirmed as Dangerous: Extreme – Spontaneous Combustion.  
(Conditional Activation; Motion Activated – Movement of Strings)_

'Get the targets. Don't let them be used. Get to the drop site. Make the report.' He went over the mission that he'd been paid for, but now that he could see just how many things similar to the items he was sent to find there were in the world. Just what could those other items there do?

He found the net in a mannequin's hands, it was positioned as if it had been throwing the net over another armoured mannequin.

He rolled his eyes when he saw the styling of the mannequin's but continued his work.

Dropping the duffle that he carried with him for the job he pulled out a metallic purple coloured postal tube, it was an odd tube with a metal lid with an ominous red button on the top. Unscrewing the top, he placed it on the floor, retrieving a pair of purple latex gloves to wear as he had been cautioned, taking the rope net gingerly from the mannequin he gingerly folded it over to make it as small as possible.

It was as small as he could make it, almost as if he'd rolled the net up.

Gingerly lowering the net into the tube, he had to stop himself from flinching as the net sparked and flashed as he lowered it into the tube.

Once it was completely inside the tube he screwed the lid on the tube and pressed the red button on the top and was rewarded with the sound of a Vacuum sealing the tube shut.

"One down." He spoke aloud, for the first time of the night.

He returned the tube back into the duffle bag that he was still carrying.

The next thing that he pulled out of the bag was a folded large metallic silver bag.

He looked around, checking for guards once again and also checking to see where the lyre was.

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the empty museum.

He let out a silent groan, when he heard them.

"Don't move." One of the guards shouted at him. "Put the duffle down and put your hands above your head."

"I don't think so." He replied, not even bothering to turn around to look at the guards.

"Do it now, or we'll open fire." Another guard shouted at him.

"No. You won't." He replied. "After all you're pretty sure that I'm carrying one or more of the museum's artefacts in my bag, hence why you asked me to drop the bag."

"I don't give a fuck. You're breaking and entering, we're sick and tired of criminal scum like you breaking into the museum and stealing things."

"Do any of you criminal's even care who you hurt when you break into the museum and take the things we're supposed to be guarding?" another asked.

He nodded slowly and moved slowly but deliberately.

"I do care, actually." He told the guards. "That's why when I broke into the museum I didn't break anything as I entered, I sat on a roof nearby for over an hour mapping out the routes of the guards as to ensure that I encountered as few guards as possible, the one guard that I encountered before you all, will wake up in a while and have a headache for a few days but will ultimately be alright.

"I have acquired one of the two items that I've been sent to retrieve, these two items are extremely dangerous and when they're used, even accidentally, these items can lead to the deaths of many people."

He turned around looking at the guards for the first time.

Several of the guards instinctively flinched back.

"The Wraith." One sneered.

He, now identified as The Wraith, cocked his head and gave a single nod.

"I rather enjoy that name, to be honest." He told the guards. "But yes, I am The Wraith. Known thief, information broker and secure item transporter. Well… That and more to be honest. But as I said, I've only come here to complete my job and then I will leave, the only thing that will happen is that the failure in the camera's network.

"When the security company send someone out they will find that the camera's in this room and several others throughout the building have been chewed through by rodents, an exterminator can fix that problem for you. As such there is no blame on any of you guards and the items that will go missing will be catalogued as missing and suspicion will be placed on the transport company."

The explanation made the guards look at each other before looking back at Wraith.

"What?" He shrugged. "Did you really think that I hadn't considered everything that would happen over the time that I worked this job? I am a professional and government buildings are known to be infested with all kinds of vermin, which is why there is a booking for an exterminator to give a quote next Tuesday.

"As such there is no way that any of the guards working tonight will be blamed for the theft of the items that I am taking."

"Well aren't you nice." One of the guards replied sarcastically, this was the same guard that had spoken first. He was a rather outspoken guard.

"I'd hope so." Wraith replied.

"That was sarcasm, jackass." He sneered.

"No… Really? I couldn't tell." Wraith replied just as sarcastically.

"Smart ass."

Wraith just shrugged.

"Put the bag down." Another guard told him as he stepped forward. "I don't care what you've planned out. Sure, it's impressive. But we really don't care. So, put the bag down and put your hands above your head. The alarm has already been triggered."

Wraith's shoulders sagged.

"Why'd you have to do that?" He groaned. "That just makes things harder to handle."

"It's your own fault son." The same guard replied. "Now put the bag down and we can at least put a word into the police for you, after all, you _only_ knocked Cory out."

Wraith smirked, not that it was able to be seen under the half mask that he was wearing.

"Well, as nice as you all are… I am actually being paid for the items that I've been asked to retrieve, as such there is an expectancy that I complete the job I've been paid to do." He sheepishly replied. "So, for the sake of my reputation and everything… I'm going to need you all to-" His head snapped up. " **Begone!** "

Wraith's arms flicked up and the shadows followed, unleashing a tide of Shadow-like energy that sent the guards flying back. Two were slammed into the wall and were rendered unconscious right away.

Leaving only six of the original eight left to deal with.

Wraith quickly moved behind one of the exhibit stands knowing that he'd be safe, after all just because the museum was broken into often enough doesn't mean that they don't have people that want to at least ensure that those who break in have a hard time getting what they want. The somewhat simplest way to do that?

Put Reinforced Bulletproof Glass everywhere in the museum that was logical.

Wraith knew that the artefact that he'd taken so far was safely contained within the metal tube, and would remain so until it was removed from the bag, but he didn't know how they would react be transported through the shadows with him, meaning that he couldn't travel the same way out of the museum as he did getting in. Not that he had the energy to make such a trip at the moment.

Those trips into the shadows took time and careful work to ensure that he was able to survive through the journey. He may be able to manipulate the shadows a bit, but that did not mean that he was the only thing in there… or the most powerful.

"You think you're such a wise guy, don't you?" The outspoken guard from before called out. "Just because you have powers doesn't mean that we're going to let you walk all over us."

"Yeah?" Wraith called out. "It seems like I've been doing a bang-up job of it so far."

He knew that it was foolish to torment the people with guns that were aiming to injur… no, Wraith mentally amended as a bullet whizzed past his head, to kill him. Definitely trying to kill.

Wraith reached into his waistband and pulled out his own weapon.

The weapon itself was rather simple and looked unassuming, other than its shape.

It was a steel grey pistol, but had no visible barrel for a bullet, or even a hammer to fire a bullet. The only feature that the weapon had that stood out was the two long vertical lines on the rectangular end of the weapons barrel that had a third small vertical line between them.

"I hate using this, feels cheap." He grunted as a bullet nicked his thigh when he emerged from cover.

He took carful aim and fired what looked like a mass of light from the weapon.

When the light hit the ground, it spread out into the form of a dull muted brown circle and violently shook, causing the guard that had been the target to fall over, the violent shaking caused several display cases nearby to shatter raining down shards of glass over the guard as the nearby display toppled over, some of it landed on top of him.

Thee guards down, five to go.

Landing on his shoulder Wraith rolled, maintaining his momentum as he ran. He athletically moved through one display, leaping off one of the strands landing with his legs on either side of another guard's head, he pivoted and rode the guards body to the ground. He trapped on of his legs under the other cutting off the guards' air supply.

He levelled his weapon at another guard and pulled the trigger.

For a moment the guard was confused, nothing had happened to him.

But as he was about to say something there was a ringing in his ears and he could feel blood leaking from his nose as his body lost all strength, then all he saw was black and a sense of vertigo as he collapsed onto the floor.

Wraith made a noncommittal noise as he felt the trapped guard go lip and the other guard fall to the floor.

Five down, three to go.

He released the guard that he had trapped and spared a moment to check for a pulse. Wraith was happy that the guard had a pulse, he let out a small sigh of relief. He didn't want to kill someone on a simple retrieval job like this. That and he was also being paid extra not to kill anyone, something that wasn't that common in Gotham, but for thieves there was always the option to be paid for a non-lethal approach, which he wasn't against.

He'd already lost a small bonus when he had encountered the eight guards at the start. But he wasn't stressed about it, after all. The Seventy hundred and fifty thousand he was being paid as his basic fare wasn't something to sneeze at, especially for two small artefacts that he was sent to retrieve.

* * *

Wraith looked at the guards laying on the floor.

He hadn't wanted to be so rough with the guards, in fact he'd really not wanted to deal with them at all. But, as he was more than aware, life was not nearly as kind as movies made it look.

Adjusting the duffle that was strapped across his back he felt the weight of the metal container and the lyre against his back, his pistol was where it had been originally before he'd entered the building against the small of his back in its holster.

He had spent too long dealing with the guards that he had no idea where the others would be or how far away the police were. But it was actually Gotham's Dark Knight and his Ward that he was concerned about. While he was on good terms with them they did not know, as far as he was aware, about his alter ego as the Wraith.

He had been asked to help them to catch Wraith before in the past, which took some careful planning on his part as to how it'd happen. The Dark Duo were not pleased that he had been able to slip away from the three of them, even though he'd be trying his best, anything less would show that there was something happening and would cast suspicion towards him and there was already enough of it on him.

So, he took off at a brisk jog, keeping to the shadows and moving as best he could to get out of the museum without being spotted. As he jogged be pressed a button on his belt, annoyed that he hadn't even thought about doing it earlier and was pleased to hear the sound of a small pitched sound coming from the button. That would shut down the cameras long enough for him to make his way out of the museum.

Or so he'd thought.

The sound of a skylight shattering raised alarms to him.

"They're coming." He thought aloud.

"Actually." Came a young voice. "We're already here."

Wraith was caught off guard and was on the receiving end of a powerful flying, or would it be swinging since he was using a grappling hook, drop kick from the sidekick of Gotham's Dark Knight.

Wraith was sent crashing back going head over heels from the powerful impact dead center of his chest.

"Your entrances are getting better, Tweety." Wraith commented as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Maybe you're just losing your touch, Ghost-boy." Robin replied.

Wraith rubbed his chest.

"Haven't we done this enough?" he sighed. "I mean… we've gone around the block a few times. Each and every time I've gotten away."

"We've ended up keeping you from whatever it is that you were trying to steal." He smirked.

"That's true." Wraith admitted. "But then I've just stolen it within the next few days anyway."

Robin blinked.

"Seriously?"

Wraith nodded and adjusted the length of the duffle's strap keeping it tightly pressed against his back, assuming a defensive stance knowing that simply escaping wasn't going to be on the books right now.

"I get paid to… well… steal things and deliver them to people that pay me, or to where they tell me to take them." He said. "I'm not going to deny it. But I am actually proud of the fact that I'm a thief."

Robin raised his arms and Wraith pulled out the two police batons that he had in his belt, causing robin to raise an eye at the sight of the blunt weapons as the two started circling each other.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure that your parents would be happy about your career path." Robin commented.

Robing rushed in, quickly executing a quick 1-2 jab then surprisingly having to moving back as Wraith's batons came down and slammed into his arms, deflecting the attacks.

Wraith shot forward, pressing his advantage.

"Actually, my mother doesn't mind that I'm a thief, especially because I don't attract attention from people like you and Batman." Wraith told the sidekick. "She thinks that I'm wasting my potential, but I'm sure that all parents think that about their kids."

"Yeah, sure." Robin agreed, ducking under a baton swing. "But I'm not a criminal."

Wraith shrugged as he back stepped away from a flip kick. "True. But that's neither here nor there really."

"I don't think so." Robin commented. "But I'm not really clear about the actual meaning of that saying."

Robin unleashed a strong round house kick that Wraith was able to avoid and then counter with his own powerful spartan kick dead center into Robin's chest, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Sorry mate, but I need to get these out of here." He patted the strap of the duffle.

"I don't think so." Wraith spun around.

Wraith's eyes widened as he saw Gotham's Dark Knight standing several feet behind him.

"Batman." He gasped.

"Wraith."

He swallowed at the cold tone he received. If he wasn't so intimidated he would have checked to see if the Goosebumps that he was feeling were real.

"Explain."

If anyone had told him that one-word statements were going to be the most dangerous things he'd hear, he'd not have to look any further than Batman himself.

Wraith took a single step back.

Batman took one forward.

"It's a job. That's all." He told Batman.

"Not good enough."

Wraith flinched and vanished into a could of, what seemed to be living shadows. Reforming several meters away from Robin, placing the sidekick between Batman and himself.

The two vigilantes saw that wraith was visibly shaken by the sudden movement, as he kept looking himself over and was audibly breathing heavily.

"Woah…" Robin was in awe of the sudden appearance of a different power that he'd never seen before.

"Doing that long?" Batman questioned.

Wraith swallowed.

"It's been known to occur." He replied guardedly.

"Impressive." Batman offered.

Wraith knew that he needed to get away from Batman and Robin, the sooner the better. He really needed to figure out how to get away from them without using too much magic, he'd need to use just enough magic that they would mistake it for a Super Powered Thief. But at the same time, it would be difficult to avoid upsetting the Artefacts that he'd acquired, he had learnt in the past that large amount of magic near dangerous Artefacts was an extremely bad idea.

As in, enough magic being used could set the artefacts off and cause wide spread chaos, the effects of the artefacts, even hindered by the neutralizer, would affect everyone around.

Spartacus' net would turn everyone to stone instead of just those that it was thrown over.

Nero's lyre would set the entirety of Gotham City alight with magical flames more powerful than anything that Gotham City would be able to handle.

So, the only answer was to call upon something that he'd been keeping hidden from the dynamic duo. At least in the form of Wraith that is.

He flicked his arms out, as if he was catching something in each of his hands.

Though he couldn't see Batman's expressions clearly, the shock and awe on Robin's was more than enough.

"Since when could he use fire?!" Robin exclaimed as he was forced to dodge a fireball that had been launched at him.

"Focus on the mission at hand, you can complain later." Batman scolded his ward as he too dodged another fireball.

"I really don't want to do this tonight." Wraith told them, unleashing a volley of fireballs at them. "But you're leaving me no real choice here."

He brought two fireballs being held in his hands together, combing them and increasing their power.

"I would dodge this if I weren't me." He warned.

Without hesitation Wraith slammed the now larger orb of fire into the ground.

He would later reflect on the feeling of the improvised technique, the feeling of the flames, the excitement of the pyromania that accompanied the use of such raw devastating power and scorching heat. Wraith would swear that he had felt the excitement of the flames as they raced towards what they had perceived as fresh meat.

Both Batman and Robin were forced to flee the hallway by way of the windows in fear of being burnt by the unnaturally powerful flames.

They had just landed on the ground below when the explosive roar of fire shattered the windows above them, showering them with heated shards of glass.

They remained in silent contemplation for several moments before Robin couldn't help himself but to speak.

"Did you know he could do that?" He asked his mentor. "Or have ever seen him give any indication that he could do it?"

"No."

"But that's what worries you, right." Robin translated the unspoken message from his mentor.

"Indeed." Batman replied.

They remained silent for a short while more, the air now filled with the sound of sirens crying in the background.

"This isn't going to affect tomorrow is it?" Robin asked.

* * *

 _Unknown Location  
_ _July 3rd 04:23_

"I heard that there was some excitement at the Museum." The white hooded figure commented as Wraith placed the duffle bag on the table between them.

"There was, and as agreed in the stipulations of the agreement, bar my fee, the offered bonuses that were placed in the contract have been rendered null." Wraith replied calmly, hopefully hiding the displeasure he felt. But he needed to remain professional right now.

"I was spotted by the guards, was forced into a conflict, was required to incapacitate several police officers on my way here and was seen by civilians. That just leaves me with the agreed upon fee."

The hooded figure remained where he had been standing before Wraith had appeared.

Feet shoulder width apart, arms behind their back, stiff posture.

Wraith had pegged him as a military type from the posture alone. Which was all he had to go on in regards to his identity, which was perfectly fine with him. After all, the hooded fellow wasn't the only person wearing something to conceal their identity when they met.

"Understood." The hooded man replied. "Was there anything else to report?"

Wraith nodded.

"Batman was there, along with the sidekick. They didn't seem to know what it was that I had taken but I was forced to fight them so the artefacts may be a little agitated when your do… whatever it is that you do with them."

Wraith then got the distinct feeling that the man before him had raised an eyebrow at him.

"This isn't the first time I've been around Artefacts of this kind." Wraith explained. "One of my previous employments ran across one of your other teams in Texas, I passed along my card and that was how you received my number."

"You don't have a number." He countered.

Wraith smirked. "Exactly."

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter." The man called out.

"Sir." A new, clearly feminine, voice greeted as they entered the room.

Wraith immediately assessed the newcomer.

She was short, shorter than he was at the moment, standing at a rough 145 cm in height. She wore a, what he believed to be, midnight blue cloak of the same appearance as the man he had been talking to.

'A young woman of a lower rank?' he thought to himself.

"Why are you interrupting?" he asked the girl.

"Message sir." She held out a folded piece of paper to the hooded man. "It's from the superiors, sir."

Once he took the paper the girl nodded once and exited the room without sparing Wraith a look.

The hooded man read the note over and sighed deeply.

"Looks like someone higher up has decided that there were things out of your control so you're being paid some of the bonuses that were agreed in your contract." He told Wraith, who just nodded in turn.

"Also, one of our teams has found an item that you requested of our order."

Even obscured by the hood he could tell that the hooded man was narrowing his eyes at him. The unasked question was obvious to both and demanded an answer, regardless if Wraith wanted to answer or not it was expected of him.

"I requested a divining of future tasks that will be required of me to achieve my fate." Wraith began.

"While I stand true to the belief that fate is something that a warrior makes for himself every day, I cannot deny that there will be things that I will need in order to survive the trials that will be placed before me, so I requested an item that will assist me in preparing for those trials."

Silence reigned for several moments between them before he nodded.

"I will be your contact between the order and yourself." The hooded man said.

"If there is ever a time that the order has a request of you, I will be the one to contact you. This also works in the reverse, should you have need of the order you will be able to contact me and then I will inform the relevant parties within the order of the assistance required.

"The means of the assistance provided will, more often than not, require something from you, commonly a financial commitment will suffice, other times there will be a job, such as the one that you have performed for us tonight will be required."

Wraith listened to what the stranger in the hood was telling him.

"If that is all it would take then why not just give me a number to call and then tell me this when I tried to call it?" Wraith asked. "There must be more to this than you're telling me.

"I am not foolish enough not to realize that you could have had someone acquire the artefacts legally or by swapping them out while they were being transported. I even thought about doing it myself, the only reason that I didn't do that was because there are commitments in my future that require me to be committed to them wholeheartedly for some time. Hence why I stepped up the timetable.

"So why don't you tell whomever it is that's in charge of you that I want to know what's really going on and why it involves me." Wraith snarled.

 _Very well then._

Wraith spun around, looking for the source of the voice. But there was only Himself and the hooded man in the room.

"I shall take my leave then." The hooded man seemed to be speaking to whomever the voice belonged to and not Wraith. Without waiting for a response, he strode out of the room, leaving Wraith seemingly alone.

"I think you hurt his feelings."

Wraith spun around and saw that there was a man sitting in the hooded man's abandoned seat.

"I don't think I've ever seen him walk off in such a huff." The stranger said cheerfully. "I had thought he was immune to annoyances now, considering everything that I've put him through."

"Who are you?" Wraith asked, his fingers itching for the feel of a weapon.

He was scolding himself for not bringing one with him, and the room was too bright to allow for any strong use of shadows, using fire was also an option but the room was small and he'd be caught up in any attack regardless if he'd win or lose.

"I'm who you wanted to see." The stranger replied. "I am this orders leader, young thief. I've been wanting to meet you for a while and you've given me the perfect opportunity to do so."

Wraith remained where he stood. Stoic silence filled the room.

"Oh yeah… You were probably asking for my name." The stranger spoke offhandedly.

Wraith took in the stranger's appearance.

He seemed to be both young and old at the same time. His youth came from the undeniable appearance of a man close to Wraith's own age, but clearly older than he was, closer to the younger side of someone in the early stages of their late twenties, but there was the undeniable appearance of all knowing wisdom, and humour, contained within the amber eyes of the man before him. He had dark black hair tied in a low ponytail, giving him a respectable look especially paired with his trimmed beard and moustache.

The man wore a Black Tee shirt and dark blue jeans, with a pair of black leather shoes one would not be remiss to find on a business man.

Everything about the person before him seemed to create the air of a young man that knew things and dressed smartly but casually enough to be comfortable around other people without drawing unwanted attention.

"You can call me Bayek." He introduced himself. "I know your name already, but for decorum's sake I'll stick with Wraith."

Wraith nodded without speaking.

"Don't want other people discovering who you really are, after all." Bayek commented.

"True." Wraith agreed.

"Here." Bayek said as he tossed something over to Wraith.

Wraith caught the tossed object with both hands and looked at Bayek in question.

"It's the item that you requested." Bayek explained. "I know that you said that you'd be able to retrieve it on your own after we gave you any information that we could get, but I thought to myself 'This young man knows what he wants, but… why does he want _this?_ '

"So, I figured the best way to find out was to get the item and hand it to you in person."

Wraith just stared at Bayek for several moments.

"Well…" Bayek practically waved his arms. "Aren't you going to open it? I want to see your amazed look. Which I would be able to do if you took off your goggles and face mask."

"The Goggles and Mask remain." Wraith replied, now looking down at the item in his hand.

"You know I did a bit of extra research into that." Bayek pointed to the object he'd thrown to Wraith.

"It has an interesting piece of history to it; did you know that?" he asked. "Its maker is unknown, which isn't uncommon for pieces dating back past the 1700's, for small items like that, but the materials themselves are another story.

"The case your holding is a carved and carefully formed is made from pure Lapis Lazuli, that specific colouration is only found in a small handful of locations throughout the world, four being within the Mediterranean."

Wraith opened the case and saw the interior.

"The craftsmanship on the compass itself is amazing, from what we've been able to deduce the interior of the lid was supposed to be a rendition of the heavens divined by the creator of the compass itself.

"It has a central shadow vane, se the gold item in the middle, that's what that is." Bayek pointed out. "The gold, or what we believe is gold, used throughout the inlays of the compass were believed to have been taken from-"

"The stone chest containing exactly eight hundred and eighty-two pieces of Aztec gold that was used to stave off the wrath of the murderer Cortes himself. Because of his insatiable wrath, bloodlust and greed it was believed that the gold itself was cursed by the Aztec gods." Wraith cut Bayek off.

"It was believed that the gold would corrupt Cortes, driving his lust for wealth and gold higher and higher, pushing him to take upon himself dangerous adventures to find even a trace of gold, Jewels or precious metals that he would then horde.

"It was believed that the gold that was cursed by the gods was what allowed Cortes to find the riches that he discovered throughout his life and so the creator of the compass used pieces of the gold with the goal of using the compass' natural purpose, to allow a traveller to find their destination, would allow the gold to give a more direct way of revealing the treasure.

"The Lapis Lazuli was used as a containment for the cursed nature of the gold to protect the mind of the compass' owner, since it is believed that Lapis protects the mind from psychic attacks, thus making the compass safe to use. The stone has also been known to help release stress and bring about deep peace.

"The actual compass dial itself comes from the tusk of a walrus that nearly killed Cortes himself when he travelled far to the northern seas in search of treasure, supposedly on of his first adventures after being cursed. The Walrus' tusk was covered in Cortes' blood as well as its own, tinting the outer rim of the compass red, which still remains faintly." Wraith pointed out to Bayek.

"The Walrus was able to get away, after nearly killing Cortes, but it wasn't uninjured. Cortes was able to cut off the Tusk of the Walrus and used it to signify his dedication to his cause and willingness to put his life on the line in search of treasure." He concluded.

"You know your history Wraith." Bayek applauded. "But what made you so interested in the compass in the first place, if I may inquire?"

Wraith nodded his acquiescence and explained.

"This compass was made _for_ Cortes, but it wasn't even mentioned in his legends until it resurfaced in the hands of the Spanish Pirate hunter Armando Salazar, who desired nothing more than to rid the world of Pirates. One day when he was searching for a pirate named Morgan, last name unknown, if he even had one that is, who captained a ship called the Wicked Wench.

"Salazar hunted this man down because he had been one of the men that killed his family when he was a boy, for whom he had sworn vengeance against Pirates. When he was hunting a known associate of Morgan's he found that captains horde, so he did his job and took it all back to Spain with him eventually finding the compass.

"When he found out the properties of the compass he cut a bloody swathe throughout the ocean, killing thousands of Pirates wherever they were. Legend spread around that somehow, he knew how to find every and all pirates, whether or not they were sailing or resting on an island. None were safe from him.

"So, an armada of pirates gathered, with the singular purpose of tracking down and ending Salazar's reign of terror throughout the ocean. After the battle Cortes lay dying on his ship, the only person left aboard was a young cabin boy that had been hiding while all the fighting had been going on. Salazar thought he was one of his crew and passed on the compass to him, not finding out he was actually from the pirates' crew.

"That young man went on to become a successful pirate using the compass to amass wealth and fame throughout the Mediterranean until he was in turn killed and the compass faded into history." Wraith explained.

"That, Mr. Bayek, is why I wished to find the compass." He said calmly. "The legend of this compass, should it be true, will lead me to the things that I desire when I am in need of them."

Sometime later Wraith appeared on a random street corner in Gotham City, he removed his mask and goggles. Replacing them with a pair of dark glasses and a walking stick, gone was Wraith – the mysterious thief, and in his place was Harry Potter – War Mage of the Potter family and Blind fifteen-year-old, standing on the cement footpath as he began his walk home, with a compass hidden away in his jackets inner pocket and cane tapping along the ground in front of him.

* * *

 **Sorry about the lateness, Life has been a little crazy this month and didn't get started too late.**

 **Make your guesses about who the council are; i'm sure many will figure it out pretty quick.**


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